He was previously rumoured to be directing Bond 25, but now it looks like David Mackenzie is going to helm a brand new spy franchise.
Collider is reporting the Hell or High Water filmmaker is in talks with Warner Bros to direct Jett Day.
The film is written by Ozark creator Bill Dubuque (once attached to pen the Nightwing script) and the in the film, Jett Day is a black ops agent on a mission to prevent a newly-discovered diamond mine from falling into Russian hands.
It’s a simple story but with the creator of one of the biggest series on Netflix will be fantastic with plenty of twists and turns and most recently worked with Warner Bros for The Accountant.
When news first broke by the folks at That Hashtag Show they stated the studio was working on a list of candidates for both the lead role of Jett Day and his Uncle Brendan “the man who raised Jett and introduce him into the world of espionage.” As for the roles WB is hoping for someone similar to Chris Hemsworth for Day, while looking for a Brad Pitt-type for Brendan.
Their original report is boosted by Collider’s Jeff Sneider saying the studio is looking for a young A-lister to carry the franchise along the lines of Michael B Jordan or Channing Tatum.
The studio is hoping to get into the spy franchise game, after failing with the seriously underrated Guy Ritchie directed The Man From UNCLE, to fit in between the several year gap between Bond movies.
It seemed WB were the last to get involved as Paramount has been having great success with Mission: Impossible and they’re working on their second based on Tom Clancy novel Without Remorse, which will star Jordan.
Elsewhere, 20th Century Fox (soon to be Disney owned) have the Kingsman franchise. As for Universal they had Jason Bourne but are now developing MI6 thriller Section 6 and will be releasing Bond 25 internationally.
Scotsman Mackenzie is a great choice, not because he’ll be brilliant once he gets his hands on Bond, but has great movies under his control after breaking out to the mainstream with Starred Up and followed it up with Hell or High Water, which got four Oscar nominations, and his most recent film Outlaw King for Netflix is utterly fantastic and got Chris Pine to deliver his best performance yet.
As for casting it’ll be likely someone in their 30s to carry the franchise for at least a trilogy. The first actor that came to mind is Zac Efron and if he receives praise for his portrayal of Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile.
Elsewhere, John David Washington won plaudits for his performance in BlackKklansman and we have to see how the reviews for Us but Winston Duke could be a way to go.
Additionally, if the studio went with the older half of 30 then Jake Gyllenhaal has to be in contention as does Zachary Levi with the current reaction to his performance as Shazam! in the upcoming DC movie.
What do you think? Are you excited about Warner Bros bring in an American James Bond? Let me know in the comments below.
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