Steven Knight on new James Bond script: ‘There are certain rules but I love where it sits’

Steven Knight also helmed Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger (Doug Peters/PA)

Steven Knight has said writing the next James Bond film feels like he is doing his “duty for king and country”.

The 67-year-old, known for creating the hit crime drama Peaky Blinders, was tasked with penning the new 007 script.

The film continues to draw in significant speculation surrounding who will play the next spy in the franchise – especially after Amazon MGM Studios took creative control of it.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Knight said he tries to shut out the noise and focus instead on honouring the franchise as best he can – keeping any and all details under wraps.

He said: “It feels like I’m doing my duty for king and country.

“If you’re a British writer, you have to do it.

“The thing with Bond is it’s its own universe and it’s its own franchise, so there are certain rules. Obviously you have to move it along, but I love where it sits.

“I love that it’s British. I love that it’s not DC or Marvel, and that it’s this thing that it is.

“So I feel a responsibility to the text. In other words, a responsibility to the concept of it.”

Canadian film-maker Denis Villeneuve, who directed the Dune trilogy, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, will helm the new Bond movie.

Among the actors rumoured to be in the running for the role of 007 is Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden.

When asked about whether Lowden would make a good fit, Knight said: “I can’t. I cannot speak about this subject. Much as I would dearly love to.”

Lowden’s name recently hit the headlines after his Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman appeared to have confirmed his casting in an interview with Canada’s The Morning Show.

Oldman said: “It’s been rumoured that (Lowden) is on the shortlist. We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack.”

Knight is also behind the upcoming documentary and concert film, Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger which follows the band on their reunion world tour.

He said he was “quite shocked” when he was asked to do the film and that he did not expect it to be as “emotional and profound” as it turned out to be.

Knight added: “It’s the first documentary I’ve ever made, so I’m not in charge of it. I’m not in control. I don’t know where it’s heading.

“But as an act of faith, sort of said to everybody involved, we have to assume this is going to work.

“We have to assume they’re going to come together. That this is going to be about reconciliation. That’s what we we set out to tell that story. Fortunately, that’s what happened.

“When I met Noel and Liam at the very beginning of this, they had such a burning desire for this to work that I sort of had no doubt that they were going to see it through.

“I had no idea how emotional and profound this journey was going to be because it’s not just about these two brothers; it’s about a lot more than that.”

Knight added that the “tidal wave” of interest in the world tour became the focal point of the film to find out why generations of fans – new and old – feel so connected to their music.