Obviously, it wasn’t part of the plan for Barbara Broccoli and the other heads of the ‘Bond’ franchise to hire Danny Boyle to direct “Bond 25,” only to have him quit the production only weeks later. But alas, that’s exactly what happened, which raised more than a few eyebrows among film fans. Now, months later, with a new director (and writers) aboard the spy film, Boyle finally speaks out about the reasons for leaving the coveted job.
READ MORE: Scott Z. Burns Hired To Rewrite ‘Bond 25’ For Director Cary Fukunaga [Exclusive]
As the director explains in the new issue of Empire Magazine (via Yahoo), the end of his relationship with “Bond 25” happened due to loyalty to his writing collaborator and a bit of a standstill with the folks behind the franchise.
“I learned quite a lot about myself working with Bond. I work in partnership with writers and I am not prepared to break it up,” he said. “We were working very, very well, but they didn’t want to go down that route. So we decided to part company, and it would be unfair of me to say what it was because I don’t know what Cary [Fukunaga, the new director] is going to do. I got a very nice message from him and I gave him my best wishes… it is just a great shame.”
He added, “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’s like saying ‘Hey, we are going to give you a different editor…’ Those fundamental partnerships are vital.”
READ MORE: Lupita Nyong’o Won’t Be Joining ‘Bond 25’ As The “Bond Girl” Search Continues
On the one hand, you have to respect Boyle for sticking to his guns and not sacrificing his loyalties for a paycheck. On the other hand, it is a bit sad that we never got to see what a ‘Bond’ film would look like under the director of Boyle. Ultimately, it would appear that the filmmaker probably isn’t cut out for big franchise work, with studios regularly cycling through writers in the production of these tentpole films.
Regardless, Fukunaga is on board and casting appears to be underway for “Bond 25,” as it attempts to land in theaters on April 8, 2020.