The latest Bond movie has hit a major stumbling block. Just months before principle photography was about to begin, and after an extensive search to find the right director, director Danny Boyle has now exited the project, leaving Bond 25 in a bit of a bind.

The announcement was made by longtime producers Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, and producer/star Daniel Craig, explaining that “due to creative differences, Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25.” Note that they put the onus on Boyle, as it appears it was his decision to walk away.

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. pic.twitter.com/0Thl116eAd

— James Bond (@007) August 21, 2018

Broccoli and Wilson had been developing a script by veteran Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Spectre, Casino Royale, Skyfall) and Yann Demange (’71) surfaced as the top choice to take the helm. But then Boyle and his Trainspotting writer John Hodge pitched a new take on a Bond film to the producers, Hodge wrote a screenplay, and suddenly the Purvis/Wade script was set aside to make way for Danny Boyle’s Bond.

It fair to say that Boyle hasn’t made a bad movie. And even the ones that aren’t huge hits are still better than most of the factory line flapdoodle that comes out of Hollywood, like Trance. Then you’ve got Trainspotting 1 & 2, The Beach, Shallow Grave and of course he won the Best Director Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire.

Boyle confirming that he was directing the new movie back in March

There’s no official word yet on what comes next, but it’s more than likely they will return to the Purvis and Wade script. Demange is currently directing the Jordan Peele-produced Lovecraft Country HBO series, so he may be unavailable. Other names on the producers’ shortlist for Bond 25 were Denis Villeneuve, who is currently preparing to start shooting Dune with Timothee Chalamet next year, and Hell or High Water filmmaker David Mackenzie, who’s about to release his Netflix film Outlaw King.

The Daniel Craig Bond movies had been on something of a see-saw with glimpses of genius matched equally by lame plots, poor writing and progressively weaker stories. Casino Royale, Craig’s first foray into the franchise is generally regarded as the best, with it’s epic, uncharacteristic black and white prologue. Then of course it was let down just as much by the ludicrously obvious product placement. Rolex? Omega. There might as well have been a commercial in the middle of the movie.

And so it goes on, throughout all four movies. Javier Bardem, brilliant in Skyfall…but sadly the entire story was rubbish. Fans had been excited to see what Boyle bought to Bond, so this is a crushing disappointment.

Bond 25 had been set for release on November 8, 2019, but unless the producers already have a new filmmaker in their back pocket, hitting that date seems unlikely.

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