When a new James Bond movie is announced, it’s not just about who will portray the next James Bond. It’s also hugely about who will get to direct the movie. Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, has confessed that he was turned down to direct a Bond film, not once, but twice.
Steven Spielberg’s revelation of the rejections he faced:
Steven Spielberg revealed on The Michael Ball Show that he volunteered his expertise to make a Bond film. “After ‘Jaws‘ which was such a huge success, I thought, ‘hey people are giving me the final cut now. So, I called up Cubby and offered my services but he didn’t think I was right for the part. Then even after ‘Close Encounters’ came out and was a big hit – once again – I tried to get on a Bond film. And they still didn’t think I was right for the part.” said Spielberg.
Why Broccoli rejected Spielberg according to Roger Moore:
Following the success of his first two films, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg accidentally met Roger Moore in Paris and told him about his desires. “We sat, and we talked,” Moore told MTV. “He said he would love to direct a Bond.”
Consequently, Moore approached Albert “Cubby” Broccoli about Spielberg’s notion. Broccoli, however, did not have a positive impression of Spielberg. The lack of experience was the primary factor that Broccoli rejected him. Spielberg was not nearly as well-known at the time as he is now. “Spielberg wanted a piece, and Cubby didn’t want to give anything away,” Moore said. “He didn’t want to give any more points of Bond away to directors coming in.”
Will Spielberg ever be part of the James Bond franchise?
In an interview, Steven Spielberg stated that creating a Bond film now is highly unlikely owing to the fact that they can no longer afford him.
“When I first started making movies, the only franchise I cared about and wanted to be part of was James Bond,” he said. “When I started out as a TV director, my pie-in-the-sky dream was to make a little movie that would get some notoriety, and then Cubby Broccoli would call me and ask me to direct the next James Bond picture. But I could never get Cubby Broccoli to hire me—and now, sadly, they can’t afford me.”
