How Spielberg Missed the Chance to Direct James Bond

Picture Steven Spielberg, fresh from Jaws, knocking on the door of the James Bond family. Short sentence. Bold ambition. He says he wanted in. And not casually—he imagined a Bond film the moment he saw Dr. No.

Stories like this feel cinematic because they almost are. Spielberg recently told the tale on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast: he repeatedly offered to direct a 007 movie and was turned down every time. After Jaws, he rang up Cubby Broccoli, the legendary Bond producer, and volunteered. No. Years later, following Close Encounters of the Third Kind, he tried again—this time even negotiating a little trade. Broccoli asked to use a melody from Close Encounters in Moonraker. Spielberg said yes on one condition: let me direct a Bond film. Again, the answer was no. Still no explanation.

Rejection stings. But it can also reroute history. One moment in 1977 changed everything. Spielberg was in Hawaii with George Lucas, both anxiously waiting for Star Wars to land. He mentioned the Bond story to Lucas. Lucas, quick with impossible ideas, replied that he had something even better: a character called Indiana Smith. The name later became Indiana Jones. Spielberg signed on immediately.

The rest is familiar franchise lore. That closed Bond door opened a fedora. Spielberg directed four Indiana Jones films, carving out an adventurer who felt like a Bond for the archeological set—swinging, snarky, and utterly his own. He even joked that if Bond ever came calling today, producers couldn’t afford him.

There’s an ironic twist to the tale: while Spielberg never got his 007, the franchise carried on—and its next chapter now lies in the hands of Denis Villeneuve, fresh from reimagining Dune. What might a Spielberg-helmed Bond have looked like? We’ll never know. But that old refusal helped build another cinematic giant instead.

One director’s closed door became another franchise’s defining gateway.

So, which would you choose—Spielberg’s take on Bond, or the fedora that followed?