Though he’s currently focused on the release of next month’s closing chapter in his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, fans are curious as to what director Christopher Nolan plans to do after hanging up the Batcape for good.  He was mentioned in connection with Warner Bros.’ The Twilight Zone reboot before Matt Reeves landed the job, but his named hasn’t been firmly connected to any other upcoming projects as of late.  He was long developing a film about Howard Hughes before Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator put Nolan’s project on hold, but last year we learned that the director might be reviving the film with an eye towards beginning production once he finished The Dark Knight Rises.A new interview with the director now reveals that the Howard Hughes pic is essentially dead, but Nolan mentions his willingness to take on a franchise of a different sort in the future: James Bond.  Hit the jump for more.In a new interview with Empire Magazine (via The Playlist), Nolan revealed that the Howard Hughes film is off the table, adding that he “managed to find another wealthy, quirky character who’s orphaned at a young age.”  That said, the director mentioned that he’s a long-time fan of the James Bond series and reiterated that “he’s serious about the prospect” of directing an entry in the long-running franchise.Nolan has made comments about his interest in Bond before, but he reveals in Empire that he's already met with the franchise’s producers at some point in the past.  A Nolan-helmed Bond film might be a ways off, though, as the director added this bit about his potential involvement:

"It would have to be the right situation and the right time in their cycle of things."

The folks over at The Playlist point out that this most likely means Nolan is interested in rebooting Bond instead of picking up where another director has left off and following suit.  It’s not hard to see the franchise’s influence on Nolan’s films, with the director admitting that the snow-set final action sequence in Inception draws specifically from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

I’d love to see what Nolan would do with the James Bond universe, but it certainly sounds like it could be some time before “Nolan Bond” comes to fruition.  Moreover, the current tone of the franchise isn’t entirely dissimilar to Nolan’s films, so I don’t know how much of a “reboot” Nolan could bring to the series.  It's also worth nothing that Nolan would be incredibly expensive.  Steven Spielberg lobbied to direct a Bond film early in his career only to be shot down, then once he became a household name he candidly admitted that it'd cost too much to have him direct an entry in the series.  Nolan's recent filmography can be found towards the top of the all-time grossers list, so you can bet that his starting price isn't cheap.

It’ll be interesting to see what project Nolan decides to tackle after closing out his hardened Batman series, but I would definitely look forward to seeing him take on the Bond franchise at some point in the future should the prospect arise.  Sound off in the comments with your thoughts on the director's interest.  Is Nolan a good fit for Bond?