Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic future: 5 high‑stakes projects after Bond announcement

On June 25, 2025, Amazon MGM Studios announced that Denis Villeneuve will be the director of the next James Bond film. It’s the first major announcement since the studio took charge of this decades-long franchise from the Broccoli family. With this update, the 007 agent’s story seems to be in good hands, considering Villeneuve’s valuable experience working on projects of similarly massive scale and scope.

In 2017, the Canadian filmmaker brought Blade Runner 2049 to the screens, thirty-five years after the original introduced us to Harrison Ford’s complex anti-hero Rick Deckard. After this hypnotic cyberpunk thriller, he gave us an immersive cinematic version of Frank Herbert’s classic Dune novel—often considered untranslatable to an audiovisual form. That’s why there’s plenty to get excited about with the new announcement from Amazon.

Denis Villeneuve can find a more grounded and poetic way to present the spy thriller while staying true to the James Bond franchise’s blockbuster roots. He has already managed to strike a creative balance between art and commerce in his previous projects. So, the Bond film doesn’t seem like too difficult a task for him. Yet, that’s not all that Villeneuve is working on at the moment. He has a few more stunning projects in the works.

Here are 5 high‑stakes projects from Denis Villeneuve

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1. 'Bond 26'

Before diving into the details of the other projects, let’s take a look at the latest update. Denis Villeneuve has officially been brought in to helm the 26th installment of the franchise, tentatively titled Bond 26. Soon after, the director shared the following statement:

“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr. No with Sean Connery. I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honour the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honour.”

Bond 26 is the first project since No Time to Die (2021), which showed the 007 agent die for the greater good. This meant Daniel Craig wouldn’t grace the screens again as this iconic character. So, there will be a new actor in place to play the part. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, James Norton, Idris Elba, and more have been considered for the role, per rumors, but nothing has been finalized yet.

2. ’Dune: Messiah'

Dune: Messiah will be the third (and reportedly Denis Villeneuve’s final) chapter in the film series. It will follow Paul Atreides / Muad’dib’s journey as he rises to power, seemingly as a messiah, only to turn into a far more complex anti-hero. Messiah is expected to tackle the political undertones of Paul’s journey. In addition to Timothée Chalamet, the film’s cast will include Florence Pugh, Zendaya, Ida Brooke, and Nakoa-Wolf Momoa. Robert Pattinson is also expected to join as Scytale.

3. ’Rendezvous With Rama' and 'Cleopatra'

In December 2021, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Denis Villeneuve would be working on Arthur C. Clarke’s 1973 sci-fi novel Rendezvous With Rama. For the uninitiated, Clarke was also the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, written concurrently with Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi classic.

Eventually, in September 2024, Villeneuve told Vanity Fair that “the screenplay is slowly moving forward” for the adaptation. During this conversation, he also mentioned the Cleopatra adaptation based on Stacy Schiff’s novel—reportedly with Zendaya in the lead role. However, no concrete details have been revealed so far.

4. ’Nuclear War: A Scenario'

Another high-stakes project in Denis Villeneuve’s future is an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario. Per IMDb, its official synopsis reads:

"A chilling drama against the backdrop of impending nuclear conflict. Experts weigh the reactivation of atomic bombs and warheads, envisaging a scenario of global warfare."