Martin Campbell is credited with directing two of the best modern James Bond movies, GOLDENEYE and CASINO ROYALE, which also served as our introductions to both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig as Bond. While speaking with CinemaBlend, Campbell said that he was pretty much offered every Bond film after GOLDENEYE, but that he turned them all down until CASINO ROYALE came around. As for whether he'd return for a third film in the franchise, well, never say never.
I don't know. I might be, so never say never. I didn't after Goldeneye. I don't know if it was sort of arrogance or whatever I don't know. I just sort of said no to it. I was pretty much offered every one after that. But I just felt that I was repeated it. Another control room to blow up; another nutcase taking over the world. And also there is something refreshing about starting a new Bond, and particularly with Pierce [Brosnan]. It was sort of a Cold War sort of situation then, and we had Judi Dench for the first time. So there was a kind of excitement to doing it. Casino Royale was the same thing. Much the same reasons, actually.
So although Martin Campbell isn't interested in returning for another Daniel Craig film, that's not a slight against the actor, but rather speaks to Campbell's preference to set the stage for a new James Bond and avoid repeating himself. What do you folks think? Would you be open to Martin Campbell returning to get the new James Bond off on the right foot?
Martin Campbell's next film, THE FOREIGNER, will find the director reunited with Pierce Brosnan, who stars in the film alongside Jackie Chan. The upcoming action-thriller tells the story of "humble London businessman Quan (Chan), whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love — his teenage daughter — is taken from him in a senseless act of politically-motivated terrorism. In his relentless search for the identity of the terrorists, Quan is forced into a cat-and-mouse conflict with a British government official (Brosnan), whose own past may hold clues to the identities of the elusive killers."
THE FOREIGNER will hit theaters on October 13th while the next James Bond film is set for a November 8, 2019 release.