12. John Hillcoat
The Australian director broke through with 2005's brutal revisionist Western The Proposition, before following it up with an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road and crime drama Lawless. While all of his movies have veered towards the dark side and been laced with violence, there is no doubt that John Hillcoat knows how to present some beautiful imagery and draw great performances from his actors. While not an obvious choice, and one that has zero chance of landing the gig anytime soon, in the years to come the Australian director could be an inspired choice to put a fresh spin on the aging franchise. Lawless marked a subtle shift into more commercial territory after two uncompromising efforts, and the director's upcoming Triple Nine continues that transition with a heist movie featuring an ensemble cast of recognizable names. The highest budget of his career so far has been just $26m, but if Hillcoat keeps making movies of such consistent quality then his name will surely be bandied around for higher-profile projects. Given that he likes to work with frequent collaborators, imagine the prospect of a Bond movie with music by Nick Cave and a villain played by Guy Pearce.
Scott Campbell
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