Denis Villeneuve has now officially signed on to make the next James Bond movie. The opportunities are somewhat endless, here, as Amazon MGM Studios has gained complete creative control of the franchise; thus, Villeneuve doesn’t need anyone’s approval apart from Amazon’s, and the sky is the limit as to what the scope of this movie could look like. Maybe he’ll play it straightforward, and it’ll be a dark, intense spy caper. Maybe he’ll rewind the clock a bit, and it’ll be a period piece. Or maybe, just maybe, Villeneuve will try to redeem one of the most divisive Bond movies ever made: Moonraker.
Why Moonraker is one of the most divisive James Bond movies
Released in 1979, Moonraker was directed by Lewis Gilbert, who had previously made two other Bond movies: 1967’s You Only Live Twice and 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. It saw Roger Moore reprise his role as Bond for the fourth time, a role he’d then return to three more times (1981’s For Your Eyes Only, 1983’s Octopussy, and 1985’s A View to a Kill) after that.
“Agent 007 (Moore) blasts into orbit in this action-packed adventure that takes him to Venice, Rio De Janeiro, and outer space,” a description of the movie reads. “When Bond investigates the hijacking of an American space shuttle, he and beautiful CIA agent Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) are soon locked in a life-or-death struggle against Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), a power-mad industrialist whose horrific scheme may destroy all human life on earth!”
Moonraker was quickly met with mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. While the movie has its defenders, it’s often regarded as one of the worst Bond films, given that it has a much more ludicrous plot that largely takes place in outer space.
It’s not just the plot, either — tonally, the film is a lot sillier than some of the past and future entries. Even Sean Connery wasn’t a fan of the film, as he once said, via /Film, “I went [to] London to see Moonraker with Roger and I think it’s departed so much from any sort of credence from the reality that we had. And for me it doesn’t have the same … [there’s] such a dependence on the effects, and there’s no substance.”
How Denis Villeneuve could take Moonraker from cult to mainstream
Villeneuve has found himself in a similar situation before when approaching Dune. Fans of the book aside, many people’s only perception of Dune before Villeneuve’s 2021 film was the 1984 movie by David Lynch. That movie also has its defenders, but it also quickly proved to be divisive and controversial, as it received many mixed and negative reviews.
Nobody wanted to touch Dune for a long time after that, as even Lynch originally had plans to make sequels that were then cancelled when the film underperformed. Villeneuve came along, however, and reignited some passion for the franchise, as Dune and Dune: Part Two are now beloved by not just the sci-fi geeks but by just about everyone.
He has the chance to do the same thing here. Maybe it wouldn’t be what people are expecting from his James Bond, but he knows what he’s doing in this genre, not just in Dune, but you can also point to 2016’s Arrival and 2017’s Blade Runner 2024. Villeneuve has the opportunity to totally redeem Moonraker by doing some sort of soft reboot of the film that will elevate it from cult to mainstream.
Of course, Amazon is planning a whole franchise, and nobody wants to see Bond stuck in space for the next 20 years. But he doesn’t have to be. Villeneuve has only signed on to direct one Bond movie, at this time, and if he approaches it with the same kind of tone that we see in something like Arrival, there’s no reason why the next movie after his couldn’t bring him back down to Earth in a more grounded story.
Bond is a big franchise, and there’s plenty to explore with the character. If Villeneuve wants to take him on another trip to space, I’m all for it.
