Cinematical To 'Bond 22' Producers: What About Anthony Minghella?

What is Anthony Minghella up to these days? The last we heard, he was preparing to shoot The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, based on the Liz Jensen novel, which I'm seriously looking forward to, and doing the pilot for some television show about detectives called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, which I'm not looking forward to so much. Now Variety is reporting that Minghella and partners Sydney Pollack and Mirage Productions will produce a film version of the comic novel The Silver Linings Playbook. The novel is about a man who, after a mental breakdown, is released from a nuthouse determined to find the 'silver linings' in his life. I've never seen Minghella tackle a full-on comedy before, so I can't visualize how this would play out if he were to direct the project himself, but it doesn't seem like that's in the cards anyway.

I actually have a great idea for what Minghella's next directing project should be, presumably before Louis Drax -- Bond 22. The word on the street is that the Bond producers are definitely going the 'bigger, more expensive' route after the massive success of Casino Royale, and they've always flirted with the idea of having a talented, name director take on a Bond film, so why not Minghella? The guy is a genius with a camera, he's got the right sensibilities for the work, and he's been sort of unfairly kicked out of the 'big budget club' after Cold Mountain fiasco, and needs to remind Hollywood how well he can handle their money. Just think about it -- Bond 22, starring Daniel Craig and Carice van Houten, directed by Anthony Minghella. That sounds like a recipe for Best Picture Oscar to me.