I doubt Noyce is still a realistic choice. He's doing his own thing making films like 'The Quiet American', 'Rabbit Proof Fence', 'Catch a Fire' & his new project 'Dirt Music'. Frears seems unlikely, but since he was the director of the Jinxed Bond spin off, he's still in the hat. Personally I think they are going after Amiel (his 'Singing Detective' was amazing), Hopkins (directed 'The Ghost and The Darkness' & 'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers', both amazing), Softley ('Wings of the Dove' was good), Baird (I liked 'Executive Decision'), Donaldson (director of great films like 'No Way Out', 'Thirteen Days' & 'The Worlds Fastest Indian'), Caton-Jones ('The Jackal' was good and 'Scandal' was amazing), Loncraine (terrific 'Richard III') & Barker (word on 'Butterfy on a Wheel' is very positive).
Apparently, they looked at Jonathan Glazer a few years ago (for TOMORROW NEVER DIES, if I'm not mistaken). For some strange reason I can't quite put my finger on, I think he'd work extremely well with Craig. But perhaps it's because I see him as quite a similar director to Matthew Vaughn - young, caused a great stir with an exceptionally stylish (or, if you prefer, exceptionally flashy) Brit gangster flick, but seemed to hit the big time a little too quickly and to flounder a bit.
Still, either of those two guys would be among my top picks for BOND 22, and given that they were seriously considered by Eon in the past it wouldn't appear that they're too unrealistic. I mean, I'd bet
against Glazer or Vaughn doing Bond at this point, but then again who knows? I guess there may be a slight chance.
Michael Winterbottom - if you were to catch him on the right day - might be an excellent choice, but possibly a little
too versatile for Eon. But, politically, he could be the Bond franchise's equivalent of Paul Greengrass.
Still, all things considered, I say give it to Je-gyu Kang or, even better, Chan-wook Park (yeah, that'll happen).