Dune director Denis Villeneuve will direct the next Bond film for Amazon MGM, despite already being attached to four other upcoming films, including Cleopatra

Director Denis Villeneuve wearing a jacket and tie in 2024 — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Frank Herbert's Dune and Ian Fleming's James Bond have been big news for PC gamers this month, thanks to the launch of Funcom's survival MMO Dune: Awakening and the first trailer for IO Interactive's James Bond game 007 First Light, both of which arrived in June.

That gives me the thinnest of excuses to report on some news from Amazon MGM Studios: Denis Villeneuve, director of the Dune movies, will direct the next James Bond film.

"Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007," said Villeneuve. "I'm a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honor the trad–"

Sorry, Denis, I'm gonna interrupt that quote because this is exactly the kind of thing every director says when taking over a long-running franchise, isn't it? "I grew up on Star Wars." "I've been a fan of Spider-Man since I was a kid." "I swear on the lives of my children that I will honor the history, legacy, and gravitas of Sonic the Hedgehog." It's a preemptive strike on anxious fans who are worried the next entry in their favorite fictional property is going to suck ass.

"This is a massive responsibility," Villeneuve continued, "but also, incredibly exciting for me and–"

Denis, Denis, hush. We get it. And I don't think it's even necessary to keep spouting off, because this is about the best news a Bond fan could hear. Villeneuve's films, like the two Dune movies, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival are highly regarded among sci-fi fans, Sicario gets high marks from lovers of gritty crime flicks, and Enemy delighted arthouse dorks. Villeneuve has one hell of a track record.

There are still a couple big unanswered questions, namely: who the heck is gonna be the next James Bond? No casting announcements have been made, though Vegas odds (yes, you can actually bet on who will be the next James Bond) put Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter) in the lead, followed by Theo James (The Monkey) and Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge). ATJ does nothing for me personally, but both James and Pierre would be fun choices for Bond, I think.

Another important question: when the heck is Denis Villeneuve gonna have time to direct a Bond movie? Already on the director's roster is the third Dune movie, Dune: Messiah, slated for 2026, and a Cleopatra film that—if history is any indication—will be an epic. He's also directing an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama and a film based on a speculative non-fiction book called Nuclear War: A Scenario (about the US and North Korea trading nukes) which is currently in preproduction.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.