The woman with the golden gun: Our pick of female directors who would kill the next 007 movie

With rumors flying about that Danny Boyle is high on the list to direct the currently untitled 25th James Bond flick, IndieWire explained why the British filmmaker would be a “disastrous choice” for the franchise. While the feature goes on to outline five Brits they think would do a killer job, we’ve decided to flip this on its head and speculate what the Bond world would look like if a woman were behind the lens.

After all, there are countless female directors who know their way around gritty, “masculine” subject matter appreciated by both male and female audiences, so why shouldn’t / couldn’t it happen? In light of this idea, here are the female directors we think would nail Bond #25:

Kathryn Bigelow

According to Screen Rant, The Hurt Locker director was even urged by the former Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal to direct a Bond adventure. Although she dismissed the idea, Bigelow has proven herself to be a true master of big budget productions.

Patty Jenkins

Jenkins absolutely killed it with the portrayal of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and her team of Amazon warriors, so why shouldn’t she be able to deal with Daniel Craig amidst a series of explosions and gun fights? Just imagine how much fiercer the Bond girls would be.

Niki Caro

If Spectre taught viewers anything about James Bond, it’s that the franchise had reverted back to its traditional misogynistic leanings. Perhaps for Bond 25 the film could use the magic touch of the Mulan master Caro, with her gender-inclusive sets and focus on strong male and female leads.

Ava DuVernay

Skyfall was another of the franchise’s flicks that was criticised for its portrayal of women, with each major female character being killed off to motivate Bond’s actions. Perhaps then DuVernay’s experience making movies and TV shows that have been firmly grounded in race and female power would add a nice touch to the next Bond installment.

Susanne Bier

While rumors of The Night Manager star Tom Hiddleston becoming the next James Bond were flying around in 2016, why don’t we start our own fresh rumors linking the show’s director Bier as the next in line to direct Bond 25? After all, she’s already proven her ability to tackle big budgets and “masculine” themes.

Amma Asante

We’d love to see the actress-turned-director handed the reigns for the next 007 flick, mostly because she previously spoke out about how “women are pigeonholed into making ‘certain types of movies’ due to ‘misguided distrust’ from executives”. We’re sure Asante would be the ideal candidate to prove otherwise.

Jane Campion

No doubt the award-winning Campion could shake (not stir) the franchise up with her unique vision on gender politics and the female gaze. Maybe we’d see even more strong female leads alongside Bond (a la Judi Dench in Goldeneye).

Sam Taylor-Johnson

Another director with big-budget finesse, Taylor-Johnson raked in more than half a billion dollars for Universal Pictures with Fifty Shades of Grey (not that the Bond franchise has ever had an issue with selling tickets). If it were to ever happen though, she’d have to switch silver chains for golden guns.