Amazon and EON are bringing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang back to the screen, and Matthew Warchus has signed up to direct the movie.
EON Productions might be taking its time over wherever the James Bond saga is going next, but it’s got a different Ian Fleming-linked project up and running with Amazon MGM. Seems to be coming together a bit quicker, too.
As had been reported over the last week or so, a reimagined take on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is now heading towards the start line. Enda Walsh – who wrote Small Things Like These – is writing the screenplay for the new movie, and Ian Fleming’s novel will be the basis of the script.
We now learn too that things are sparking into life at speed. Matthew Warchus has signed on the dotted line to direct the movie, his first since Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical a couple of years back. Warchus works primarily in theatre, but he did also direct the superb 2015 feature Pride, a firm favourite around these parts.
The new film is the first major film project to be conceived and launched between Eon and Amazon, since the latter bought up MGM. The James Bond-themed TV show 007: Road To A Million is the only other fruit of their partnership to date, and this does feel like some degree of progress.
The new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is still some way away from filming though, with early development work currently underway. Still, if it can get before the cameras by Christmas 2025, that – from the outside looking in – at least seems on the feasible side. There’s the small matter of casting to consider too, and also, whether it’ll lean into the stage musical that’s successfully done the rounds.
More on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as we hear it. The signing of Matthew Warchus to the production seems a very positive step.
