Judging by the critical and audience success of his films thus far, Denis Villeneuve is already a pretty well-known director. His feature-length breakthrough, Incendies, earned an Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010, and three years later, Prisoners firmly established him as a talent to watch. Enemy gained plenty of fans and has achieved a kind of cult status, Sicario showed us his mastery at creating ambiguity and tension, and then Arrival blew us all away, earning the filmmaker his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. So with all of this in mind, it feels weird to say that Villeneuve is about to reach a whole new level of fame and acclaim in Hollywood. But then again, he's never directed a film like Blade Runner 2049 before. The long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece finally arrives in theaters next week, and the hype is genuinely out of this world. Twitter reactions were nothing shy of ecstatic, and the reviews are expected to be sensational when they drop tomorrow morning. Villeneuve is about to join Christopher Nolan at the very top of the directorial totem pole, and he is going to be the most in-demand filmmaker on the planet.
He's already set to tackle an adaptation of Dune, the sci-fi property that was last brought to the big screen by David Lynch in the 1984 mega-flop. And then earlier this week, it was widely reported that Daniel Craig wants Villeneuve to direct Bond 25, giving him the edge over some of the other directors rumored to be on the shortlist. But yesterday, a new project emerged as a potential landing spot for Villeneuve's talents, and it seems like Bond won't be happening now. Yesterday, Deadline exclusively revealed that Villeneuve is in talks to direct Cleopatra at Sony, an epic re-imagining of one of the most famous historical epics of all time. According to the report, Bond is simply a no go, and the director will do pre-production work on Cleopatra while he makes Dune for Legendary. This project has been a longtime work-in-progress for Sony, and while the Deadline article mentions a variety of attached screenwriters and Angelina Jolie as a possible star, I have to imagine that Villeneuve will come in and do his own thing.
When I first read this news, I was not excited in the slightest. But as I thought about it more and more, this could be a really interesting project. I mean, think about it- a Denis Villeneuve historical epic, potentially shot by Roger Deakins. How thrilling could that be? Who knows how this will ultimately turn out, but all I know is that I have immense faith in Villeneuve. My anticipation for Blade Runner 2049 is at a fever pitch, and if this movie is as good as everyone says it is, he's undoubtedly going to be considered one of the five best directors working today. Villeneuve is about to become a superstar, and I'm sure we'll hear plenty more on his future plans in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Sources: Deadline, EW, Screen Rant
Images courtesy of Warner Bros.
He's already set to tackle an adaptation of Dune, the sci-fi property that was last brought to the big screen by David Lynch in the 1984 mega-flop. And then earlier this week, it was widely reported that Daniel Craig wants Villeneuve to direct Bond 25, giving him the edge over some of the other directors rumored to be on the shortlist. But yesterday, a new project emerged as a potential landing spot for Villeneuve's talents, and it seems like Bond won't be happening now. Yesterday, Deadline exclusively revealed that Villeneuve is in talks to direct Cleopatra at Sony, an epic re-imagining of one of the most famous historical epics of all time. According to the report, Bond is simply a no go, and the director will do pre-production work on Cleopatra while he makes Dune for Legendary. This project has been a longtime work-in-progress for Sony, and while the Deadline article mentions a variety of attached screenwriters and Angelina Jolie as a possible star, I have to imagine that Villeneuve will come in and do his own thing.
When I first read this news, I was not excited in the slightest. But as I thought about it more and more, this could be a really interesting project. I mean, think about it- a Denis Villeneuve historical epic, potentially shot by Roger Deakins. How thrilling could that be? Who knows how this will ultimately turn out, but all I know is that I have immense faith in Villeneuve. My anticipation for Blade Runner 2049 is at a fever pitch, and if this movie is as good as everyone says it is, he's undoubtedly going to be considered one of the five best directors working today. Villeneuve is about to become a superstar, and I'm sure we'll hear plenty more on his future plans in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Sources: Deadline, EW, Screen Rant
Images courtesy of Warner Bros.
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