There are so many reasons, one way or another, that one director may or may not be better for a certain project. Of course you could just say that once the script and lead acotrs are in place you are pretty much running on auto pilot, but with the James Bond franchise I am afraid it is more difficult than that.
Roger Michell recently directed the lovely character piece Venus and on top of that is one of the names that was being considered to helm James Bond 22. So, what happened and set it up so that the Changing Lanes helmer turned the other way? Well, according to the Times Online, “It was because in the end I didn’t feel comfortable with the Bond process, and I was very nervous that there was a start date but really no script at all. And I like to be very well prepared as a director,” said Michell.
“The Bond people – who are lovely – are used to going into these massive productions in quite a chaotic way: ‘Oh, we’ll fix that later.’ I panicked about this. And it was starting to make me feel very, very unhappy about what I was doing and who I was. The more the money went up, the worse it made me feel.”
Michell’s reasons sound quite understandable, walking into a James Bond flick nowdays even with a complete script has to be quite crazy.However, to turn down $8 million you really must feel confident in your stance, you give me $8 million and I will dance a jig at your sister’s birthday party… and then some.
Instead of directing the 22nd Bond film Michell will be directing an old play about middle-class adultery in West London. Should we be concerned? Well, yes and no. Michell’s career doesn’t exactly spell action adventure, but Changing Lanes is quite a film in the grand scheme of things.
Consider this, a guy crashes into another guy and then takes off… now go with that. That is what Michell did and Changing Lanes turned out to be a far better film than anyone could have imagined, that is due to character building, a required method in films now days.
Does this mean we have missed the boat? Nah, LatinoReview gave us a list that consisted of Marc Forster, Tony Scott, Alex Proyas and Jonathan Mostow, I think the film may still be in good hands. Let’s just hope one of these fellas picks up the duties.
For the complete interview with Roger Michell click here.
