Now that Denis Villeneuve has been hired to direct Bond 26, Amazon has the perfect opportunity to take the movie in a surprising direction. When it was announced that Amazon now has full creative control of the James Bond franchise, many longtime fans were very worried. However, Villeneuve is the perfect choice to direct Bond 26.

Villeneuve’s best movies include Prisoners, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and the two Dune films. The acclaimed director’s filmography proves that the upcoming Bond 26 could be amazing. If a great actor is chosen to play the next James Bond, then the movie could potentially end up being one of the best films in the entire franchise.

The fact that Villeneuve’s favorite James Bond movie is Casino Royale suggests that Bond 26 will be similar to Daniel Craig’s first film as 007. Since Casino Royale is an amazing Bond film, this would be great. However, Amazon and Villeneuve could instead take inspiration from 1979’s Moonraker and return James Bond to the science fiction genre.

Denis Villeneuve Could Return James Bond To Sci-Fi

Moonraker Is A Divisive James Bond Movie

There are many sci-fi elements in the James Bond franchise, but Moonraker is the only time the series has fully committed to the genre. After 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker was not planned to be the next movie in the franchise. However, after the overwhelming success of Star Wars, the James Bond producers wanted to capitalize on the sci-fi craze.

Therefore, they officially sent Roger Moore’s James Bond to space in Mooonraker. Unfortunately, unlike Star Wars, Moonraker wasn’t received well by fans or critics. To this day, the 1979 film remains one of the worst-rated movies in the James Bond franchise, with a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes (via Rotten Tomatoes).

However, Bond 26 has a director who isn’t just well-versed in the science fiction genre, but generally regarded as one of the modern masters of it. Therefore, if anyone can pull off a sci-fi James Bond movie, it’s Villeneuve. This would be a very risky decision, but based on movies like Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune, I would love to see Villeneuve make Bond 26 a sci-fi film.

A Sci-Fi Bond Movie Could Be Great For The Franchise

Amazon Could Take A Huge Risk With Bond 26

Since Moonraker is not a well-liked James Bond movie, this idea may sound crazy. However, making Bond 26 a sci-fi film could actually be great for the franchise. After all, Villeneuve’s upcoming Bond movie has the very hard task of differentiating itself from Craig’s era, which was loved by both critics and fans.

While Craig’s films were all quite grounded, Amazon could go in the opposite direction with Bond 26. Amazon needs to be bold for this new era to work, so fully committing to the sci-fi genre for the next movie could actually end up working out, especially with Villeneuve behind the camera. Therefore, potentially making Bond 26 a sci-fi film 46 years after Moonraker could be a fun way to shake up the long-running franchise.