Bond 25 Director Confirmed as Danny Boyle, Production With Daniel Craig Begins December 2018
It’s official: MGM and Annapurna will team up to distribute Bond 25 in the U.S. on November 8, 2019. Universal Pictures has won the lucrative rights to handle the film’s international distribution. Sony previously handled Bond distribtion, but it’s rights to the franchise expired after “Spectre” and set off a bidding war among studios. The next 007 installment will open in the U.K. first on October 25, 2019.
In addition to the confirmed distributors, 007 studio Eon Productions has also confirmed Danny Boyle will direct Bond 25, which will once again star Daniel Craig as the world’s most famous spy. Boyle has been a contender for several months now, with his hiring dependent on whether or not 007 producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli liked the script Boyle hatched with his “Trainspotting” screenwriter John Hodge.
Franchise veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who scripted all of Craig’s 007 movies and the Pierce Brosnan entries “The World Is Not Enough” and “Die Another Day,” were originally comissioned to write the screenplay for Bond 25. The duo finished a draft but it was put on hold after Boyle pitched an idea Wilson and Broccoli enjoyed. With Boyle now confirmed to direct, it’s clear the producers loved Hodge’s screenplay.
Boyle will start production on Bond 25 this December at Pinewood Studios in the U.K. First up on the director’s slate is an untitled musical comedy written by Richard Curtis and starring Lily James and Kate McKinnon. The movie already has a September 2019 release date.