Former Bond Girl Halle Berry Has Some Suggestions For Who Should Replace Daniel Craig

Former Bond Girl Halle Berry Has Some Suggestions For Who Should Replace Daniel Craig

The next James Bond movie is currently in production and Daniel Craig is on board to play the role one more time, but once the film is over, the world will need a new James Bond. Dozens of names have been thrown around, dating back to before Craig confirmed his return. Everybody has an opinion, and that includes former Bond girl Halle Berry.

The Die Another Day actress was asked on Today who she would like see take on the iconic role after Daniel Craig steps down. She's got a pair of gentlemen she'd like to see, saying...

I’d want to see Hugh Jackman or Idris Elba. I would go for him.

Halle Berry would probably have a lot of support when it came to either of these two names. Idris Elba's name has been rumored as a Bond possibility for quite some time, there were even rumors at various points that he was in talks to take the part, but Elba continuously denied those reports.

As far as Hugh Jackman goes, we know the actor had a shot at auditioning for the role back when it was last available, but turned down auditioning because he was already working on the X-Men franchise and didn't want to get buried in two major film series at once. It's unclear if he would be at all interested now that he's done playing Logan.

If there's one major stumbling block to either of Halle Berry's choices here, it's probably age. Daniel Craig is currently 51 years old. Hugh Jackman is only a year younger than that and Elba is only slightly behind at 46. When Craig was cast he was in his late 30s and one assumes that the plan would be to cast an actor at that age, if not younger, so that they can make several more movies over the next decade or so.

Still, there's no reason James Bond couldn't be an older character. In the same way that some have campaigned to see James Bond change race or gender because, in addition to the benefit of opening up the character to a more diverse cast, it would also open up the stories that could be told, allowing James Bond to age could potentially do the same thing.

Halle Berry is potentially also one of the people interested in seeing James Bond change genders. When she's initially asked who she'd like to see take over the James Bond role, she says "a woman." While she laughs it off at first and claims she was joking, many who have suggested the same thing haven't been joking.

We almost certainly won't hear anything about the future of James Bond until after Bond 25 is released. The studio won't want to suck all the air out of the new film, so even if a replacement is already being considered, and there's no way to know if that's the case, it will likely be at least a year, and probably much longer, before we know who the next James Bond will be.

Now, Chris Hemsworth Has A Different Actor In Mind For James Bond

Now, Chris Hemsworth Has A Different Actor In Mind For James Bond

Daniel Craig is hard at work on the next installment in the James Bond franchise, but with every expectation that this will be his last time in the role, the question of who will be the next James Bond hasn't died down at all. Several names have been suggested both before and after Craig confirmed his return. Chris Hemsworth is one of those names, and he's even expressed interest in the role. However, the Thor actor now says that his vote would go to Idris Elba, as the Hobbs & Shaw villain would bring something fresh and new to the long running role. According to Hemsworth...

I think he’d give it a different sort of swagger, too, and each time someone new comes into the role, I think you’ve got to offer up something different.

Chris Hemsworth is far from the only one who thinks Idris Elba would be a good choice for the new James Bond. The actor has been one of the major names bandied about by fans and oddsmakers alike. There have even been rumors that Elba was in talks for the role at one point, though those rumors have always been denied.

Elba has been a popular choice as the next Bond by other celebrities as well. Former Bond Girl Halle Berry has also suggested him. Daniel Craig himself has stated that there's no reason a person of color couldn't take on the role. Even the idea that James Bond could be a woman has been floated and supported by many.

Hemsworth's reasoning to Variety, for why Elba would work, that he would offer something different to the role, makes a lot of sense as well. While there are certainly elements of the James Bond character that have been consistent through time, each new actor has also brought their own particular style to the part.

The discussion of who the next James Bond might be hasn't died down in the slightest even though Daniel Craig is filming a movie right now. While there will almost certainly be a new James Bond for the franchise's 26th film, don't expect to hear even a word about who it might be for another year or more. Any announcement of a new Bond now would only kill the momentum of the movie currently in production. If fans are already looking forward to the next Bond, it will likely kill the box office potential of the new film.

With the normal production cycle of James Bond movies it could actually still be years before a new actor is chosen, which means that the eventual choice might not even be a name that's currently in the conversation. If somebody new pops into the conversation over the next year or so, everybody from Tom Hiddleston to Tom Hardy that have been rumored could be left by the wayside.

E.L. James Had A Miserable Time Filming Fifty Shades Of Grey, Which Led To Christian’s Book

E.L. James Had A Miserable Time Filming Fifty Shades Of Grey, Which Led To Christian’s Book

E.L. James is an author who is happy to talk about the process of writing. We know, for example that her Fifty Shades books started as Twilight fan fiction and that her new book The Mister started coming together even before Fifty Shades of Grey. Recently, the author also revealed that her work on the Fifty Shades of Grey movie is what caused the Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian to come together.

So, how did this come about? Apparently, E.L. James’ stress on the set of Fifty Shades of Grey led to her writing the chapter from Christian's point of view that would go into Fifty Shades Freed. That led to a more extensive writing project, and the rest is history. Per the author,

In the back of the book of Fifty Shades Freed, when that came out, I actually put the first chapter of Fifty Shades of Grey in Christian’s point of view, just as a sort of bonus for readers, and people started asking me, ‘Oh, can you write this, can you write this, can you write this?’ And I didn’t have time and I didn’t expect to do it, but I had such a miserable time making the Fifty Shades of Grey movie that when I finished that I sat down and wrote that novel, and it was a really cathartic experience for me. I didn’t realize it would be quite as popular as it was.

The fact that director Sam Taylor-Johnson and E.L. James did not have the best relationship has been known for a while. Taylor-Johnson previously talked about how she and the author were not on the same wavelength, noting,

I like everyone, and I get really confused when they don't like me. I was so confused by EL James. I don't understand when I can't navigate a person, when there's no synergy.

However, E.L. James has been less blunt about her experience during the first movie in the trilogy, at least until now. In her interview with AZ Central, she touches on how unhappiness led to a fruitful writing breakthrough, but she still doesn’t get particularly gossipy about the experience.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall on that set to see how the two interacted, however.

Ultimately, what E.L. James feels was kind of a rough situation turned out pretty happily. In general, fans seem to love the Fifty Shades of Grey movie, although Sam Taylor-Johnson did not return to the franchise.

In addition, Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian was given 1.25 million printings just for its initial run and the book sold over a million copies during its first week of release.

As has been common with the story of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, critics have been less nice about the series, but fans have totally devoured it.

We’ll have to wait and see if a fourth Fifty Shades series book ever comes to fruition. However, you can catch the full trilogy of movies on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital now, or grab your own copy of new book The Mister.

So Christopher Nolan's Next Movie Won't Really Be Like North By Northwest Meets Inception?

So Christopher Nolan's Next Movie Won't Really Be Like North By Northwest Meets Inception?

It's been about a year and a half since the release of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, and the acclaimed director's next film is still shrouded in mystery. Well, at least it was until new reports claimed that it was a romantic thriller that was a cross between North by Northwest and Inception. It was a concept that intrigued film fans, but it sounds like it's back to the guessing games because a new report claims that the last rumor is false.

Christopher Nolan is one of the most prestigious directors working today. He's the mind behind excellent movies like The Prestige and Memento, and gained mainstream popularity for his work on The Dark Knight Trilogy. He was finally nominated for an Oscar on his last film, 2017's Dunkirk, and since then movie fans have been eagerly awaiting to find out more details about his next project.

It seemed like those details had finally come when a report from Production Weekly claimed that Christopher Nolan's new film was described "as a romantic thriller, North by Northwest in tone meets Inception." Inception blew people's minds back in 2010, and North by Northwest is said to be one of the greatest films ever made, so it's a pretty cool mashup on paper.

However, it sounds like the update was off-base. A source told IGN the information provided by Production Weekly was inaccurate. No further elaboration was given, so it sounds like we are all back in the dark on this one.

On one hand, this can be seen as good news. Christopher Nolan has many strengths, but I don't know that I would say that romance is one of them. His films usually come off as being a bit colder and focused primarily on the drama or psychosis of his main character. That's not to say he does't have a great romantic thriller in him, but it's a bit of uncharted territory for Nolan.

For those who may not know, North by Northwest is a 1959 thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. It followed Cary Grant as a man with mistaken identity who winds up running across the country as he's swept up into a conspiracy. Even if you've never seen the film, you've probably seen the above image of Cary Grant running from an airplane recreated a dozen different times in pop culture.

Inception is one of Christopher Nolan's most well-known films, and it starred Leonardo DiCaprio as a thief who steals information by entering people's dreams.

At least we know one thing about Christopher Nolan's next movie: the release date. The movie is currently slated to arrive in theaters on July 17, 2020. There are lot of movies to look forward to until then, so be sure to learn about them all in our handy 2019 movie release guide.

Looks Like Netflix Won't Be At Cannes Again This Year

Looks Like Netflix Won't Be At Cannes Again This Year

The friction between Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival came to a head last year when the streaming service skipped out on the festival entirely because Netflix movies are ineligible to compete for the Palme d’Or. That meant that acclaimed films from big name filmmakers like Roma and The Other Side of the Wind did not premiere at the illustrious festival where so many beloved films got their start. Now, a year later, it again looks like Netflix will be skipping Cannes.

According to Variety, Netflix will be absent from the French festival for the second year in a row, with no new movie premieres either in or out of competition. This is a result of the existing issues between the two parties, which have yet to be sorted out. And, even if Netflix and Cannes had come up with an agreeable solution, the movies that Netflix would theoretically premiere at Cannes simply aren’t ready yet.

At one point, it was expected that Netflix’s most prestigious original 2019 movie, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman would be ready for, and an ideal participant in, the May festival, but the arduous task of digitally de-aging the cast for half of the film will require more time. So The Irishman wouldn’t be ready for Cannes, regardless, and will likely premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September instead.

Another possible candidate for Cannes was The Laundromat, Steven Soderbergh’s new film about the Panama Papers starring Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman. David Michôd’s The King starring Timothée Chalamet would have also been an obvious choice for Netflix to enter in the festival. Alas, the issues aren’t sorted and these movies aren’t quite ready, either.

The issues between Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival first came to the fore in 2017 when Netflix movies Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories were accepted into the festival in the competition lineup. This resulted in backlash from French theater owners, because in France there is a 36-month minimum window between a film’s theatrical release and when it can show up on a streaming platform.

Cannes gave in and required that movies could not compete unless they would eventually be released in French theaters. So Netflix pulled out of the festival last year. In the time since, Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival have been quietly negotiating in friendly talks to try to work out their differences and find a way for the streaming service’s films to come back to the festival, but as of yet those issues are still unresolved.

Although Netflix will not be premiering any of its big 2019 movies at Cannes, it does still plan to send an acquisition team to France, so the streaming service may be opening its wallet even if it isn’t bringing anything to show itself.

Even without Netflix bringing its heavy-hitters to Cannes, there are still plenty of reasons to pay attention to May’s festival. Among them are James Gray’s Ad Astra and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which are both expected to be in competition.

We’ll keep you updated on all the latest as the industry’s various elements continue to try and adapt to the elephant in the room known as Netflix. For all of this year’s biggest theatrical releases, check out our 2019 premiere guide.

Looks Like Godzilla Vs. Kong Has Wrapped Filming

Looks Like Godzilla Vs. Kong Has Wrapped Filming

We're still over a month away from Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but that movie is only a stop along the road to the main event. Godzilla is getting ready to go head to head with King Kong, and that battle is now one step closer to the big screen as filming has apparently wrapped on what is currently set to be the finale of the giant monster smashing cinematic universe.

Adam Wingard, director of Godzilla vs. Kong announced at the end of the last week on Instagram (via EW) that the production had hit the "final slate" meaning that the last piece of filming for the project was now done. Now the move goes into post-production for the creation of what will certainly be a large number of digital effects.

The announcement comes two weeks after Wingard announced the end of production in Australia. It wasn't clear at that point if wrapping in Australia meant the end of principal photography. We know now there was a bit more work to do, but now the movie is ready.

The new western version of Godzilla was introduced in the 2014 movie named after the creature, which was then followed by Kong: Skull Island in 2017. Godzilla: King of the Monsters will arrive in May, which will likely help set up Godzilla vs. Kong which is set to come out next year.

There clearly was confidence that this franchise would work. No secret was made of the fact that Godzilla vs. Kong was the goal when both creatures were announced to be getting new reboots, and the fact that almost as soon as Godzilla: King of the Monsters finished filming, Godzilla vs. Kong got started, shows that the studio was quite sure the project was a sure bet.

Based on the fact that 2014's Godzilla saw a domestic opening weekend of just short of $100 million on its way to a half billion dollar global box office, it almost certainly seemed to be the case. Kong: Skull Island didn't do quite as well domestically, but actually outperformed Godzilla internationally, making it another significant hit.

Currently, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is looking at a domestic opening closer to that of Kong: Skull Island, which might mean it won't be quite the massive hit that the first Godzilla was, but it will almost certainly still bring in strong international numbers and be a financially successful movie.

By the same token, Godzilla vs. Kong seems destined to be a success. It's one of the most epic battles in cinematic history and it's one that audiences haven't seen in decades.

The films have been so successful that it seems highly unlikely that we've seen the end of them. While we have no idea what is planned after Godzilla vs. Kong, there's a good chance we will see something. We haven't even seen Mechagodzilla yet.

How Many Dune Movies Could Denis Villeneuve Potentially Make?

How Many Dune Movies Could Denis Villeneuve Potentially Make?

Warning: The following contains some SPOILERS for Frank Herbert’s Dune novels!

With fingers tightly crossed that there won’t be any delays, next year will see the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. The Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and Sicario filmmaker has become one of the industry’s most exciting directors, telling bold and visually striking stories each time out, and he has put together an incredible cast to bring Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 sci-fi novel to the big screen for the first time since David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation.

A talented, Oscar-nominated filmmaker working with a talented cast to bring a beloved story to life is exciting in its own right, but there may be a lot more reason to get invested in Dune beyond merely next year’s movie. Dune could be the start of something that extends well past 2020.

That’s because Dune is not intended as just a one-off in the way other modern science fiction movies like Arrival, Interstellar or Looper were. Dune is meant to be the beginning of at least a 2-part series based on the property, which has an abundance of expansive source material. Which raises the question, how many Dune movies could Denis Villeneuve potentially make?

For a while now it has been said that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is being envisioned as a 2-parter. The first movie will cover approximately the first half of Frank Herbert’s novel with the second movie covering the second half. It's a 2-movie model akin to the cinematic adaptations of other beloved novels like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and IT.

This approach makes sense so as to not shortchange the story. Dune is an expansive novel, and while David Lynch’s film covers the whole book, it is not an especially faithful adaptation. In contrast, the Dune mini-series on the then-Sci-fi Channel was a 3 episode, 4 hour and 25 minute telling of the story. Frank Herbert’s novel is extremely complex with tons of characters and moving pieces, not unlike Game of Thrones. So it is advantageous from a storytelling perspective to give the novel two films to tell the story of Paul Atreides.

However, unlike something like The Lord of the Rings, Dune parts one and two are not filming back to back. They will shoot individually, and presumably the second one getting made will hinge on the success of the first one. I’ve already written about what a financial gamble Dune might be so it’s not impossible that we only get one Denis Villeneuve Dune movie. But let’s air on the side of optimism and assume that Dune is great and a hit, what then? Denis Villeneuve has said that his goal is to make two films, maybe more.

That ‘maybe more’ coda opens up a whole range of possibilities where two films could give way to an entire series and franchise. Dune can be like Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in terms of franchise potential; only here the story for more films already exists. Frank Herbert wrote six mainline Dune books before his death in 1986: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune.

What starts as a hero’s journey to avenge his family, free his people and overthrow an evil empire morphs over time into a metaphysical family saga, rife with political intrigue and religious elements that is interstellar in scope, taking place over literally thousands of years. If Dune is Robert’s Rebellion against the Mad King, the rest of the series is A Song of Ice and Fire, what comes after happily ever after. And things get weird too; we’re talking half-human, half giant sandworm weird.

The series is considered to waver in quality from title to title, and there is a major question of ‘filmability’ with parts of the Dune saga and how well this challenging material will land with mass audiences, but based on the sheer amount of story from Frank Herbert’s six novels alone, Denis Villeneuve could do at least a few more movies after the Dune two-parter.

The most obvious way for this series to be adapted would be to only focus on the first three novels, Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Those three novels take place in the same basic time period and follow many of the same characters. After that, there are massive time jumps. If that approach were taken, the series would theoretically require at least four movies, two for the first book and one each for the other two, unless somehow Messiah and Children were combined into one to form a tidy trilogy.

Only after those would it make sense to dig into the other novels. If it's successful, the mythology is dense enough to extend out even beyond Frank Herbert’s books. The author died after Chapterhouse: Dune and that novel ended with a cliffhanger, leaving some of the series’ story arcs unresolved. So years later, his son Brian Herbert and author Kevin J. Anderson used Frank Herbert’s notes to complete the saga with Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune. If Dune became a full-fledged cinematic series going that far into the story, the films would have to incorporate some elements from these later books, if not adapt them outright to complete the story in a satisfying manner.

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson also wrote several trilogies in the Dune universe with events that take place before Frank Herbert’s work or fit into the timeline of that 6-book narrative. The events of these books could serve as either a prequel series or they could be cherry-picked and elements from them could be added to the main series of films.

Legendary also has the TV rights to Dune, so maybe it could take some of the stories, either by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson or Frank Herbert himself, and put those into television series, to complement the films, similar to what was supposed to happen with The Dark Tower and what is happening with The Kingkiller Chronicle.

A successful franchise is what every company in Hollywood wants, and Dune could be one for Legendary and Warner Bros. Essentially, if the success is there, Denis Villeneuve could basically live in the Dune universe for as long as he wants, becoming for this property what David Yates is for Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts.

That said, how many Dune movies there will be and how many Denis Villeneuve will make may be two separate questions. If Denis Villeneuve makes two films and they are successful, maybe he decides to leave it at that, but Legendary keeps the franchise going with a new director or directors.

A lot is riding, on the success of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, perhaps an entire franchise. So how many Dune movies could Denis Villeneuve potentially make? At least 1, maybe 2 and hopefully a lot more.

Dune opens on November 20, 2020. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the movies heading to theaters this year.