Zack Snyder’s James Bond pitch is revealed, with the director sharing a unique direction for the franchise. Based on the iconic novels by author Ian Fleming, the Bond franchise has now been going strong for over 60 years, with numerous actors, including Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, playing the suave superspy. Daniel Craig is the most recent actor to take on the role, but his tenure as 007 ended with 2021’s No Time To Die, and what the future holds for the franchise isn’t clear.
Now, as audiences await news on James Bond 26, Snyder, who is best known for movies like Dawn of the Dead, 300, and a stretch of films in the DCU, reveals to The Atlantic that he would be interested in potentially taking a crack at 007. While no plans are in place for the filmmaker to actually tackle a Bond film anytime soon, he does have a unique idea. Check out Snyder’s pitch below:
“It’d be cool to see, like, 20-year-old James Bond. The humble roots that he comes from. Whatever trauma of youth that makes you be able to be James Bond. There has to be something there.”
Would A Young James Bond Movie Work?
So far, the youngest actor to play Bond is George Lazenby, who was only 29 during filming. Every other actor has been either mid-30s or older when first taking on the role, with the character’s age generally presumed to be more or less in line with the actor’s. Fleming’s novels, too, follow Bond when he is already an experienced spy, and his backstory includes a stretch in the Royal Navy before he joins MI6.
While there is a series of successful Young Bond novels, the producers have seemingly been somewhat reluctant to depict the character as a young man. Henry Cavill was in the running to be Bond in Casino Royale, for example, but was ultimately passed over for the role because he was too young. Reports suggest that as casting for the new 007 remains underway, actors in their early to mid-30s are once again preferred.
One of the big problems with a young Bond style of film is that it seemingly wouldn’t feature many of the hallmarks of a 007 movie. If the character comes from humble beginnings, for example, the film wouldn’t include the character’s classic formal attire, and nor would he be wielding the iconic Walther PPK or driving an Aston Martin. Without so many of these key elements, the film would potentially not really feel like a James Bond movie. That being said, however, the Young Bond books do certainly suggest that a younger take on the character could work.
