Danny Boyle is no longer directing Bond 25. Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond is coming to an end with just one more appearance slated. He's already had four films, and was noticeably worn out by the time Spectre's promotional campaign begun. After several remarks about how he was ready to walk away, he signed on to do one final film. His attachment gives Bond 25 the ability to be an end of an era instead of the beginning of a new one, and that made it a high-profile job for a director.

Following a thorough director search, Danny Boyle was eventually chosen to be the guy. He joined after developing a completely different script than the one the studio had been working on before. Despite what appeared to be great freedom on the project, he is now leaving due to creative differences.

The official James Bond Twitter confirmed the news today. They sent out a tweet noting long-time Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, alongside star Daniel Craig, announced Boyle's exit from Bond 25. They cite creative differences as the reason behind his departure. The director search for Bond 25 will now begin again.


Boyle's name surfaced as part of MGM and EoN's director search rather late in the game, but as other contenders fell out. Although other big names were being considered, many believed Boyle would bring a unique take to the James Bond character, and even save Craig's run as 007. The specific creative differences have not been revealed, and may not be, barring some further investigations. Variety reports that Boyle was already in the casting process to find the new Bond girl and villain. Now with Boyle not involved, there's plenty of questions regarding the future of Bond 25.

Since Boyle developed a story of his own, the studio still has their previous script written by Skyfall's Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. If this story is what is agreed upon as the future for the franchise, then they could immediately begin finding Boyle's replacement. Previous contenders like Denis Villeneuve may be too busy to pick up the phone. However, the two other finalists were David Mackenzie and Yann Demange, and both look to have great fall films on the horizon (with Outlaw King and White Boy Rick, respectively), so the studio could come back to them. This could be a decision that will need to be made quickly too, as the film currently has a November 2019 release date.

James Bond 25 (2019) release date: Nov 08, 2019