Bond 25 may be going back to the drawing board after Danny Boyle’s exit

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING) signed on the helm Daniel Craig's fifth and final appearance as James Bond earlier this year, but two days ago, it was announced that Boyle had stepped away due to those dreaded creative differences. As the film has already been slated for a November 8, 2019 release, there was a question of just how quickly MGM and Eon would move to get production rolling once again. There was a script which Danny Boyle co-wrote with John Hodge, as well as another in the mix from franchise veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, but it seems that neither were up to snuff and BOND 25 may be going back to the drawing board which could push the release back. D'oh.

A recent report from Variety has indicated that MGM and Eon are looking for a writer or a writer/director to join the team, signaling that a major rewrite could be underway which could even potentially find them going back to square one. Production was originally supposed to begin this December, and when you're talking about a project as big as a James Bond flick, it should come as no surprise that they require quite a lot of pre-production. Any delay in filming could have disastrous consequences as MGM and Eon would have to begin production by no later than January if they still hope to make their release. Depending on how much work is needed to whip BOND 25 back into shape, Variety adds that it's possible that the release date could be pushed to summer of 2020 or even winter 2020. We likely won't have long to wait before we get a better idea of what the plan is.

As for who could step in to replace Danny Boyle, Variety mentions that they could turn to some of the others who were previously up for the job, including David Mackenzie (HELL OR HIGH WATER), Denis Villeneuve (BLADE RUNNER 2049), and Yann Demange (WHITE BOY RICK). Unfortunately, some of their schedules are now full which means that MGM and Eon will have to look elsewhere. There have been some rumblings that they may offer Christopher McQuarrie (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT) the gig, but McQuarrie has previously said that he'd like to do an original film next after helming two MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies back-to-back. There's also been a petition making the rounds calling for Bond producers to hire their first female director. I've got no problem if the release of BOND 25 does get pushed thanks to rewrites, as I would hope that they'll do whatever it takes to make Daniel Craig's Bond swan-song suitably epic.