4. Joe Wright
After breaking through with his critical and commercially successful adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Joe Wright really hit the big time with Atonement, a visually stunning and brilliantly acted romantic epic that earned almost $130m at the box office and scored seven nominations at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. Although he would seem like an unusual choice to take charge of a blockbuster franchise, many people said the same thing about Sam Mendes and that turned out fine. His currently-shooting revisionist fantasy Pan will give the director more experience of working with a bigger budget, while Atonement's stunning tracking shot and Hanna's kinetic thrills demonstrate that he already has a knack for staging impressive set-pieces. As well as his distinct visual style and brilliant shot composition, Wright is a director that always manages to draw great performances from his actors. A James Bond movie from Joe Wright could potentially be the most visually stunning in the franchise's history, and would also feature a strong focus on character in amongst the action. If he could convince Hanna composers The Chemical Brothers to work on the soundtrack, we could really be on to a winner...