James Bond 24 News Update: Could Tom Hooper Direct The Next Film? Critic Barry Norman Thinks He is Best For The Job

Legendary Film Critic Barry Norman revealed that he wants Tom Hooper to direct the next James Bond film.

The 79 year old critic revealed in an exclusive interview with Metro he was not a big fan Guy Ritchie and thought Hooper was the best to direct the film. Norman said, 'He might confound me. He's good on the action stuff. It's the rest of the stuff, which is just as important. This is where [Sam] Mendes got it right. He got the characters right as well as the action and that's very important.'

The British critic continued 'I'm sorry Sam's not going to do the next one because he did a really good job on Skyfall."

He added that he wants a British director for the film. He stated, "I would hope it will be a British director because, let's face it, Bond is British. He's one of us and I think he needs a director who understands the Britishness of the character, more than most American directors will be able to understand it.'

Norman added; 'I don't know, I mean Tom Hooper might do it. That would be very interesting.' Norman concluded that he believed actor Daniel Craig was robbed of an Oscar nomination.  He said, "Sam did a hell of a job. I would think that Craig was good enough to get an Oscar nomination."

Ritchie emerged as the front-runner to direct the film according to bookmakers. Other contenders that have emerged include Joe Wright, Christopher Nolan, Ryan Wyatt, and Kathryn Bigelow.

Mendes exited the series after his successful "Skyfall" due to his stage projects. He also admitted that the thought of directing another Bond film made him "physically ill."

James Bond 24 is currently in pre-production with Daniel Craig slated to return as Bond. John Logan is currently writing the new script.