There has been a lot of talk about who the next James Bond will be and, better yet, whether it will be a woman with Gillian Anderson and Emilia Clarke both putting their hands up for the Jane Bond role. Yet one thing that seems to have been overlooked is that Sam Mendes is also stepping away, leaving the director's chair comfy and open to the whoever is willing to fight for it. There are literally dozens of ladies who could nail the top job and give us the first female director of a Bond movie in the history of the cinematic franchise. Here's 10 of our favourite contenders ...
Emma Freeman
She has directed basically every one of your favourite Australian shows - The Secret Life O f Us, Glitch, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Offspring - but the Aussie filmmaker has stepped it up a notch with her latest series, Secret City. Featuring an international cast, exquisite locations, a complex mystery and SPIES! SPIES DAMN IT! it shows she can handle something with a lot of moving parts on a large scale. Something, like, you know - Bond.
Lexi Alexander
It goes without saying this Oscar-nominated writer/director/producer would be a perfect choice to tackle James Bond - whether it ended up being a woman or not - given her extensive filmography which includes Green Street Hooligans and being the first woman to direct a superhero movie for Marvel or DC with Punisher: War Zone. Fresh off directing episodes of big budget shows Arrow and Supergirl, Alexander also has an informed martial arts background as a World Karate Champion which would lend itself to Bond's many fight scenes.
Susanne Bier
Her name has been thrown into the mix as a serious contender to helm the new Bond film if Tom Hiddleston claims the role, which makes sense given their excellent work teaming up on another spy series - albeit one for TV - with The Night Manager.
Amma Asante
With two films under her belt and another two set to drop within the next few years, Amma Asante's directorial work has made a significant splash. With her skilled eye behind the camera, she could bring a political and social awareness the Bond film's have been missing.
Kathryn Bigelow
An obvious choice, maybe, but there's no doubting the two-time Oscar winner could get the job done. She became the first woman to direct a movie with a budget over $100M - K-19: The Widowmaker - so there's no question she could handle the budget, scope and pressure that comes with leading a 54-year-old cinematic franchise.
Debra Granik
Perhaps a little left of centre - and indie - as far as directorial choices go, but the Winter's Bone helmer is a Jill of all trades having worked in several different production roles over the course of her career. This informed perspective could give her an advantage when it comes to managing the whole picture of a 007 franchise.
Jane Campion
If you're going to give the series a female Bond, why not double down and give it a feminist filmmaker? The work of New Zealand creative Jane Campion has been seminal over the last 30 years and she has the ability to inject the franchise with a heavy dose of tone and mood, much like Sam Mendes did with Skyfall.
Karyn Kusama
She made a huge debut with Girlfight back in 2000 and since then, Kusama has been crafting an interesting path for herself as a director with commercial fare like Aeon Flux and Jennifer's Body. Yet last year her critically acclaimed thriller The Invitation swept the film festival circuit and end of year best-of lists, showing an interesting and suave new direction for the ambitious filmmaker.
Coky Giedroyc
Better known for TV work on shows like Hemlock Grove and The Killing, Giedroyc has three feature films dropping all within the next 24 months that range from thriller to period drama. Perhaps most importantly, however, she worked very closely with the creators of the current James Bond film series on Penny Dreadful, giving us two of the strongest episodes of the first season.
Ava DuVernay
She might have turned down the opportunity to direct Marvel's Black Panther and have a sci-fi epic in the works with Disney presently - A Wrinkle In Time - yet it feels like there's few filmmakers who could reinvigorate the Bond franchise and take it into the future more than Ava DuVernay.
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