The Bond 25 saga in the wake of Danny Boyle’s departure rumbles on – and with the director’s exit also meaning the loss of his frequent collaborator John Hodge’s script, it sounds like Bond regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are back in the fray. The writers, behind every Bond film since The World Is Not Enough, were reported to have previously turned in a script for Bond 25 before Boyle got Hodge on board instead – and now that the production is having to course-correct sans Boyle, Purvis and Wade are apparently returning with a new version.
According to the Daily Mail (so make of that what you will), the duo are now turning an approved Bond 25 treatment into a fully-fledged script in order to get the ball rolling on the film. That version will then be presented to whichever director comes aboard – the current shortlist is said to include Yann Demange, SJ Clarkson, and Bart Layton.
Bond 25 will see Daniel Craig return to the role of 007, presumably for the last time. It will mark his fifth Bond film, following Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. Boyle left the film owing to “creative differences” with Craig, and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. The delayed production means the film is highly likely to miss its proposed November 2019 release date, so expect this one to hit cinemas in 2020.
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