Hire that man!
What I like about the Nolan story is that he seems to be a genuine Bond fanatic, kind of like Sam Raimi was with Spider-Man, and we saw how great the first two Spider-Man films were. Or how Richard Donner was a huge Superman fan and we saw how great the first Superman film was (and the Donner version of II). Instead of hiring directors who have a vaguely passing knowledge of Bond, why doesn't EON try something spectacularly different and actually hire a self-professed Bond geek to direct?
In other words, try hiring a director like Tarantino, Nolan, or Spielberg (back in the late 70's) for whom the movie would be a labor of love and not just a paycheck or a statement showing that they can direct an action film?
Hiring a Bond geek to direct a Bond film is the worst thing you could do because Bond fans' tastes are radically diiferent. You have people who hate TWINE with a passion and simultaneously you get people who regard it as a modern masterpiece. You have people who think Moore and his era is the absoloute difinitive Bond and everything else is meh whilst again, on the flip side you have people who think Moore and his era is almost short of tragic to the series.
There's just too much of a risk of things going belly up if you hire a director who is a Bond geek. Someone cited Sam Raimi and the problem is the same. I'm a massive spider-man geek and Raimi's spidey movies imo sucked big time and that's because I know the character and the mythology so well, I was dissapointed to no end at how awful the movies were overall. There are many spider-man fans who share my sentiments and there others who feel Raimi gave us the best thing since sliced bread.
What I like about Nolan is, you can tell he's a genuine Bond fan without being so ridiculously overzealous about it or citing the typical GF or FRWL movies. I'm glad he cited OHMSS which for a long time and even today in the eyes of many, particularly by ignorant members of the audience regard the movie is awful or simply forgot or don't know itb exists.
I think the Bond movies really need if anything a director who can handle telling a good spy thriller. Bond is Bond, by definition it immediately projects an atmosphere of expansiveness and indulgence, so that will take care of itself BUT it's all about retaining the thrills, the danger, the suspense, the atmosphere and cracking dialogue.
People don't realise this but one of the reasons why CR did so well was because aside from the great acting and overall greatness of the movie as a whole, most of the GA had never read the book, so they had no real clue as to wtf was going to happen and that's what we need. A director who can encapsulate a real spy thriller that isn't necessarilly a Bond geek.
