Danny Boyle at the 2015 Governors Awards
Photo Credit: Matt Petit/AMPAS
The next James Bond movie – the 25th overall – has parted ways with director Danny Boyle over “creative differences”, the producers and current lead Daniel Craig announced Tuesday.
A tweet from the James Bond franchise’s official Twitter account read: “Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25.”
Boyle had come on board in May after months of speculation, confirming that he would be working off an idea that had been developed into a story by his Trainspotting screenwriter John Hodge. MGM, Wilson, and Broccoli chose it over the other script from Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, whose 007 credits include Skyfall, Spectre, and Casino Royale.
According to Variety’s sources, Boyle was in the “early stages” of casting actors for the new Bond girl and the villain, the latter of which had been described as a “charismatic, powerful, innovative, cosmopolitan, bright, cold and vindictive” Russian in a leaked call sheet in July. Production was set to begin in December, with a release date fixed for October-November 2019 across different regions.
The producers and studios involved will have to act quickly if they wish to keep to that schedule, in deciding what script will now be used and finding a replacement for Boyle. Before the Slumdog Millionaire director was hired, options being discussed included Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water), and Yann Demange (‘71).
While Villenueve is busy preparing for his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, which has Call Me by Your Name’s Timothée Chalamet attached as lead, Mackenzie and Demange both recently finished work on their respective next films, Outlaw King for Netflix and Matthew McConaughey-starrer White Boy Rick.
The last Bond movie, Spectre, released in 2015 to mixed reviews but still managed to gross $880.7 million worldwide, a dip from the franchise’s high point in 2012 with Skyfall, which brought in $1.1 billion. Bond 25 is set to be the final entry for star Craig.
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