Last year, Danny Boyle was announced as the director of the next James Bond film. However, just a few months later it was reported that the filmmaker was stepping down due to creative differences. Since then, Cary Fukunaga of True Detective fame has stepped in to direct the still-untitled film. Boyle’s experience on the film apparently affected him much more than most realized though.
During an interview with Metro UK, Boyle revealed that he is probably done with franchises all together now. “I learned my lesson that I am not cut out [for franchisees] otherwise you’re digging in the same hole. I am better not quite in the mainstream franchise movies, is the honest answer.”
Originally, Boyle planned to bring his own writer on board; John Hodge, a man he’s worked with for years. However, the studio had other plans and it seems like most of the issues stemmed from that. “I learned quite a lot about myself with Bond. I work in partnership with writers and I am not prepared to break it up. We were working very, very well but they didn’t want to go down that route with us […] What John [Hodge] and I were doing, I thought, was really good. It wasn’t finished, but it could have been really good. You have to believe in your process and part of that is the partnership I have with a writer. It is like someone coming and saying, ‘Hey, we are going to give you a different editor.’ Those fundamental partnerships are vital,” Boyle said of his departure.
Though Boyle stepped away, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Bond 25 by any means. There are rumblings of a crew mutiny against Fukunaga, and Daniel Craig injured himself enough to require surgery. Also, the title was supposed to be revealed nearly two months ago in April according to the film’s Twitter but nothing has been announced. Hopefully, the production issues are overblown and things were just bumped back a little due to Craig’s injury. I guess we’ll find out the truth next year when the film is due to hit theaters though.
Bond 25 is slated for release on April 8th, 2020.
