'Mission: Impossible' director Christopher McQuarrie reveals the Bond movie he'd want to make (exclusive)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie has responded to calls for him to helm a James Bond film, revealing the type of 007 adventure he’d want to make.

“I think that, as with anybody, I would be most excited to be there [making a Bond film] for a transition,” McQuarrie told Yahoo Movies UK while promoting the DVD and Blu-ray release of the sixth Mission: Impossible film. Read the full interview here.

“There are key moments within the series where you see either a change in era, a change in Bond, or a change in tone, I would like to be there for something like that.”

Establishing the tones for each new 007’s tenure Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale and Pierce Brosnan’s GoldenEye, the most recent “transition” Bond films, are considered some of the best films in the franchise’s 50-year history. The next “transition” film in the franchise will be Bond 26, as Daniel Craig has announced 2020’s Bond 25 will be his last outing as 007.

McQuarrie says that if he did make Bond 26, he’d want to add a bit of levity hinting that he’d welcome a return to the lighter tone of the Brosnan Bond era.

“I think Daniel Craig is a fantastic Bond,” explains McQuarrie, “but I’d love to see a Bond who enjoys being Bond, I miss that.”

“My first Bond was Connery, he was the gold standard. I’m actually a fan of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond. He had these little moments, these little grace notes where he was really having fun with the character, that were quite surprising, I really enjoyed that. But I like them all.”

One of the most unifying elements of the brilliant Mission: Impossible – Fallout amongst critics was how Bond-like it all felt.

From the effortless globe-trotting, mind-blowing stunts, to the superb spy games, the Fallout helmer seems like a Bond director in waiting. So, it comes as no surprise that he was linked to the franchise when Danny Boyle activated the ‘creative differences’ clause in his contact for Bond 25.

The task of brining Daniel Craig’s final Bond film to the screen for Valentine’s Day 2020 was eventually entrusted to True Detective director Cary Fukunaga.

Bond, like Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, has endured on screen, with both spies enjoying multiple sequels, and McQuarrie thinks the appeal of Bond lies in his timelessness.

“It’s that Bond lives out of time. Each one of those movies self-contain,” he mused. “There’s very little reference from one movie to another. It doesn’t matter who the enemy is, if it’s a Cold War… He’s so adaptable, he changes with the times.

“And when it’s time for a new Bond, you just get a new one. You don’t acknowledge the history, I think that’s great. Bond is an attitude, and it’s been great to see that attitude live on.”

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is available on Digital from 19 November and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD from 3 December.

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