Mission Impossible Director Open To Take On James Bond

Prolific Mission: Impossible writer-director Christopher McQuarrie has let the world know he would be open to explore helping steer the post-Daniel Craig era of James Bond. When asked on Twitter about a ScreenRant article fancasting McQuarrie into the franchise, the director coyly replied: "I have never been a hard guy to find."

The only hitch? McQuarrie has something of a full plate at the moment. He has both Mission: Impossibles 7 and 8 on the immediate horizon, which will no longer shoot back-to-back and therefore take further time away more unpredictably. It's also going to be quite a while before anyone knows how Daniel Craig's final James Bond adventure, No Time to Die, will be received after finally coming out on October 8. It was originally slated for April 2020, but was pushed back repeatedly due to the pandemic.

Regardless, a fresh approach to the storied and stylish action-espionage franchise is to be expected. Amazon recently purchased MGM for $8.45 billion, meaning at the highest levels there is a staggering amount of new blood governing the super-spy franchise. Star Craig has already been hard at work rebranding himself as a surprisingly adept straight-face comic foil for the expansive casts in the burgeoning Knives Out franchise, which may in some butterfly effect provide inspiration for an unexpected twist for Bond. In the past, McQuarrie has expressed an interest and floated several general ideas about the possibilities lighter tone for Bond might yield.

Video game developer and publisher IO Interactive is currently making Project 007, a "wholly original Bond story" that will also function as an origin story for Bond. The company is popular for its Hitman games, featuring a ruthless assassin with a knack for disguises and creative kills--so expect something fun and interesting to come of it.