The Neon Demon and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn has dabbled with big studio movies in the past. He was briefly attached to a Logan's Run remake that would pair him up with his bro, Ryan Gosling, but both of them eventually dropped him. He's also talked about wanting to make a Wonder Woman movie but...nah, never gonna happen. A few years ago when everyone was trying to figure out who would direct Spectre, Refn's name popped up among a list of candidates for the James Bond flick. But was that story legit?
Speaking with The Telegraph, Refn confirmed he was asked to direct Spectre, but Sam Mendes, who had been flaky for months, ultimately decided to return. Unfortunately for us, as the film was a creative letdown that could have used a vastly different approach, one Refn surely would have brought. But that was never going to happen for the same reasons he'll do a Wonder Woman or a Batgirl movie. Studios aren't going to hand the keys of a major franchise to a director who has never had a hit domestically, and Refn would never accept anything less than complete creative control.
Fortunately, he has a spy movie of his own coming up, The Avenging Silence, which has a script by James Bond franchise writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. So it's probably going to be the closest thing we'll ever get to Refn directing 007, and this way he can do it any way he wants. He says about the Tokyo-set film...
“I just know this way I can do whatever I want, and that outweighs any money anyone can give me."
Refn's The Neon Demon is out right now, and you should probably go check it out because it won't be in theaters long!
