A day after the news broke that he had been tapped by Amazon to write the next James Bond film, “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight has told fans that he can’t wait to get started on the British spy franchise’s latest installment saying it will hopefully be a bolder take on 007.
Knight opened up about his new, high-profile gig in a Friday interview with the BBC’s Radio 5 Live Breakfast. “It has always been on my bucket list and it’s fantastic to be invited to do it,” Knight said. “I can’t wait to get started.” The screenwriter, whose past credits outside of “Peaky Blinders” include 2021’s “Spencer,” 2013’s “Locke” and 2007’s “Eastern Promises,” went on to confirm that he is, indeed, a fan of the Bond franchise.
In fact, he hopes that his affection for 007’s past big-screen adventures will help him create one that is “stronger and bolder” than those that have come before it. “I’m hoping that, being a Bond fan for so many years, it will be imbued into me and I will be able to produce something that’s the same but different, and better, stronger and bolder,” Knight teased.
The prolific British screenwriter is the fourth name to join Amazon’s new Bond film. In the months since longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson stepped away from the franchise in February, Amazon has wasted little time putting together a new team for the series’ next installment.
That process began with the company’s hiring of longtime “Spider-Man” producer Amy Pascal and “Harry Potter” producer David Heyman to produce and oversee the production of the new Bond film. In late June, it was then announced that “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve had signed on to direct the movie.
Now, with Knight’s hiring as the blockbuster’s scribe, the film’s core creative team is very nearly complete.
Reflecting on how he found his way onboard the project, Knight told Radio 5 listeners, “I was invited to a meeting with [producer] Amy Pascal, didn’t know what it was about, and very quickly discovered what it was about and became very, very excited and hopeful. And then a process is followed where you do some meetings, you discuss some ideas, and then you find out you’ve got it.”
“I found out a while ago but it was announced last night, which is great,” Knight noted. While he acknowledged that writing the next Bond film is a “high-pressure” job, the screenwriter said, “You’ve just got to do what you do, do it as well as you can.”
Villeneuve and Knight’s film will be the first Bond movie since 2021’s “No Time to Die,” which was written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge and marked the official end of Daniel Craig’s acclaimed tenure as 007.
Fans are, of course, still waiting on pins and needles to find out who will play Bond in Villeneuve’s film and — speaking of high pressure jobs — take over for Craig. Many names have been thrown around and rumored over the past few months, including Aaron Taylor-Johnson and “Rebel Ridge” star Aaron Pierre.
If Knight knows who is playing 007 next, though, he made it clear Friday that he won’t be the one to break the news. When asked who will take on the coveted film role after Craig, Knight said simply, “That is a very, very good question, and one I can’t give you the answer to.”
