Tony Gilroy might be best known right now for his work on the Star Wars series Andor, but long before Cassian Andor was trying to take down the Empire, Gilroy was building a different kind of spy story, with The Bourne Identity series.
Well, it turns out, he also once had his sights set on yet another iconic spy… James Bond.
During a recent appearance on The Playlist’s The Rogue Ones podcast, Gilroy dropped some fascinating details about a Bond film he and Steven Soderbergh once pitched. It was an unconventional take that would’ve shaken-up the Bond franchise in a cool way.
“We wanted to go back to the ’60s and do it in black and white and do Carnaby St. and do the whole thing. I thought it was a really swinging idea, like $30 million [budget], but he couldn’t get them to… they just wouldn’t give anybody control.”
A black-and-white Bond film set in the swinging ‘60s? Lean, stylish, and likely unlike anything we’ve seen in the franchise before. I could’ve gotten behind that! But, the idea never made it past the pitch stage, thanks to the franchise’s notoriously tight creative grip, especially under the longtime stewardship of Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
Gilroy even had a villain ready to go, though he’s keeping that one locked in the MI6 vault for now. “I had a great villain,” he said, refusing to share more.
With Amazon now owning MGM and the Bond rights, the landscape is shifting fast. What was a hard “no” five years ago might now be a real possibility.
With Bond 26 still unannounced and names like Denis Villeneuve, Edgar Wright, and Jonathan Nolan being floated, there’s all different kinds of ideas that could be explored. Gilroy’s not really involved with anything involving Bond right now, but that doesn’t mean the door is closed.
If Amazon really wants to breathe new life into Bond, letting bold storytellers take creative swings could be the smartest move yet, and that’s probably why they won’t do it. I have a feeling they are going to play it extremely safe with this franchise.
But, I sure would be interesting in seeing a big swing like a monochrome, mod-era Bond thriller with a killer villain.
Would you want to see Tony Gilroy take on 007? Let us know what you think.
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