Danny Boyle's James Bond 25 Would Have Fixed A Hated 007 Movie

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Danny Boyle's planned James Bond movie would have taken 007 back to space, following one of the saga's most loathed entries. No Time To Die was designed to bring Daniel Craig's run as Bond to a close. Little did fans of the character know how definitive this ending would be, as the sequel closes with 007 dying for the first time in the EON James Bond movie series. It was initially set to be directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later), and while it was rumored he left after arguing against 007's demise, he later clarified this wasn't the case.

Instead, Boyle told Esquire the producers of the series just "lost confidence" in his plans for Bond 25. No Time To Die itself received mixed reviews, and there will always be some curiosity among Bond devotees as to how the Boyle version would have worked out. The script for Boyle's Bond has yet to leak, but it's known that the majority of it took place in Russia, the main villain was Russian and the story tied into 007's origins. In the behind the scenes book Being Bond, a plot detail about Boyle's James Bond 25 also revealed it went where only one other 007 adventure went previously.

Danny Boyle's James Bond Would Have Gone To Space (But Better Than Moonraker)

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John Hodge penned the script for Boyle's Bond movie, which - like No Time To Die - began with 007 retired but living in Majorca instead of Jamaica. The story also took the spy to Namibia and, in the finale, outer space thanks to a giant rocket. What exactly would happen once Bond went into orbit is unknown, but presumably, he wouldn't have made it back to Earth alive. Another intriguing difference between this screenplay and the final version is that M himself would have ordered a hit on Bond. Of course, fans will recall that 007 previously went to space with 1979's Moonraker.

The latter was the fourth adventure for Roger Moore's Bond and was produced to capitalize on the success of Star Wars. Moonraker is quite tongue-in-cheek and camp, and given the grounded tone of the Craig era, it's likely Boyle's approach would have vastly different. Concerns over how the space-set finale would fare with viewers might have played into Boyle being taken off the project too, though it might have been a fun retort to critics who claimed the Craig films took themselves too seriously.

James Bond 25 In Space Could've Proved Moonraker Is Underrated

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Moonraker was a major success in its day, but the series immediately course-corrected with the more grounded For Your Eyes Only. Moonraker is now considered one of the Bond saga's worst - which is unfair. For the first two acts, it's a pulpy spy adventure, and while viewer mileage may vary on the silliness of Moonraker's - which was referenced in Black Widow - space sequence, it's not like the Moore run was famous for taking itself seriously either. Boyle's James Bond 25 could have kicked off a Moonraker reappraisal. Ironically, Craig's Bond DID go to space in the video game 007 Legends, where his 007 featured in a remake of Moonraker's finale.