Aidan Lo With producers (Amy Pascal and David Heyman), a writer (Steven Knight), and a director (Denis Villeneuve) all attached to the as-yet-untitled 26th James Bond feature film, the focus has turned to who will play 007 himself. Everyone’s talking about who is going to be the next James Bond, with names from Callum Turner to Dev Patel all having been mentioned. But what no one is talking about is who will serve as the Director of Photography (DP). Which brave cinematographer is going to shoot the film and help Villeneuve create a new cinematic look for a new cinematic superspy?
The Bond franchise has notably courted several great cinematographers. For the next film, there are a few obvious candidates for who will follow on… or so it would seem.
(Skyfall, dir. Sam Mendes, DP Roger Deakins)
(Blade Runner 2049, dir. Denis Villeneuve, DP Roger Deakins)
We can first look at Denis Villeneuve’s previous collaborators. Two-time Academy Award winner Roger Deakins, would be a great fit, having worked with Villeneuve on Prisoners (2013), Sicario (2015), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), not to mention the rest of his acclaimed body of work, 1917 (2019) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994) to name a couple. But Deakins has also shot for the franchise already, with his work on Sam Mendes’ Skyfall (2012). Similarly, Linus Sandgren (best known for his work on Damien Chazelle’s 2016 film La La Land), who recently completed principal photography with Villeneuve on the Dune: Part Three (2026), has also filmed 007 before, lensing for Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time to Die (2021).
(No Time to Die, dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga, DP Linus Sandgren)
(Dune: Part Three, dir. Denis Villeneuve, DP Linus Sandgren)
It is possible that Villeneuve may want to team with someone who has worked on a Bond movie before, leveraging their experience and working with them to develop a new visual style. But if he wants to leave a unique stamp on the Bond legacy, it could be more enticing for Villeneuve to bring on a new set of lenses. Such a newcomer could help him deliver a look and feel which does not resemble any previous entry in the franchise.
This makes cinematographer Greig Fraser the obvious candidate, as someone who has not worked on Bond before yet already has a prior working relationship with Villeneuve. Having won several awards (including an Oscar) for said work with Villeneuve on Dune (2022) and Dune: Part Two (2024), Fraser clearly knows how to work with the director to create truly striking and beautiful images which resonate with audiences and ascend beyond the standards of Hollywood filmmaking.
(Dune, dir. Denis Villeneuve, DP Greig Fraser)
(Dune: Part Two, dir. Denis Villeneuve, DP Greig Fraser)
Fraser receiving the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Dune (2022)
(Rogue One, dir. Gareth Edwards, DP Greig Fraser)
He has further proved his merit as a blockbuster action-adventure DP with his acclaimed work on projects like The Batman (2022), Rogue One (2016), the first season of The Mandalorian (2019), and Project Hail Mary (2026). With gorgeously photographed action like The Batman’s famous nighttime Batmobile chase under his belt, Fraser is without a doubt suited for the exotic setpieces and epic Aston Martin car chases of 007. His preexisting familiarity with Villeneuve and what the genre requires already makes him the perfect candidate to shoot a Bond flick, but with his status as one of the most popular cinematographers working today, Fraser would be a first-choice pick to shoot any movie.
(The Batman, dir. Matt Reeves, DP Greig Fraser)
(Project Hail Mary, dir. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, DP Greig Fraser)
One complication that might stop Fraser and Villeneuve from reuniting is the same one which prevented them from working together on the third Dune film: scheduling conflicts. Fraser is in the midst of shooting the aforementioned Sam Mendes’ new project: four separate biopics for The Beatles, a shoot which Mendes has said will take more than a year, and will last through all of 2026. While the future is not certain, production on Villeneuve’s 007 likely will not commence until early-to-mid 2027 since the director will be occupied with post-production and the press tour for Dune: Part Three until its release in December 2026. By then, hopefully Fraser will be finished with The Beatles films in time to join Villeneuve’s production. So while the longtime nemesis of Hollywood that is scheduling conflicts could still prove to rear its ugly head, there is still hope that schedules will align.
Still, there remains the distinct possibility that Villeneuve will go with another, fourth candidate for cinematographer who has not been mentioned yet. Or that he may consider the experience of prior collaborators Deakins and Sandgren to be more beneficial than not. Regardless, my prediction and personal favourite outcome is for Fraser to be the one chosen to lens the new 007.
