Tag: danny boyle

And Bond 25’s Title Is…

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…Shatterhand?

Yeah, I get that’s a little click-baity, but this comes from a piece in industry resource, Production Weekly.

The title is already well-known to 007 fans, as the name Dr. Shatterhand appeared as an alias for Bond’s nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice  novel.

If the title is correct, and it’s been floating around the top of the Bond 25 rumour mill for quite a while, it throws open many questions including: will Blofeld return? If so, who will he be played by? Traditionally, Blofeld has been portrayed by a different actor (including Donald Pleasance, Telly Savalas and Charles Gray) on every appearance, but would Christophe Waltz be tempted back?

This possible confirmation comes hot on the heels of the news that the film’s release date has been pushed back to April 2020, due to extensive script rewrites. Bourne Ultimatum writer Scott Z Burns will be taking a pass at the screenplay for Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as 007. This in itself is probably good news, given the film’s many delays at the begining of production, with original director Danny Boyle backing off, to be replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Fukunaga has previously announced he expects Bond 25 to pick up on threads from SPECTRE, lending relevance to the meaning behind that possible title.

Craig will be reuniting with Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, and Naomie Harris, and we’ll be sure to bring you more Bond news as it drops.

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Bond To Miss 2019?

On By outofdavesheadIn Film comment, film news, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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News just in via The Hollywood Reporter that the mightily-troubled new Bond film will not hit its original 2019 release date. Specifically:

“With the abrupt exit of director Danny Boyle, the next installment in the James Bond film franchise — the untitled Bond 25 — will miss its Nov. 8, 2019 release date in North American theaters, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.”

This isn’t too surprsing, if true, given the sudden departure of director Danny Boyle from the franchise (as revealed here). Rumours are circulating that neither the producers nor star, Craig, were too thrilled about Boyle’s developing modern Cold War thriller, and a particular bone of contention seems to have been the casting of Tomasz Kot in a leading role. This will almost certainly mean that John Hodge’s script will be jettisoned and it seems unlikely that EON Productions would return to the already-completed script by regular Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, which was dumped when Boyle came on board.

Going back to square one to find a new director and script also puts some doubt on the return of an already reluctant Daniel Craig, so this could also mean that Craig will finish his run with the less-than-perfect SPECTRE. And that’s something none of us want to see, right?

Whatever furious scrabbling is going down in the Bond offices right now (I’m picturing something akin to the From Russia With Love train fight), at least we know they won’t be rush-releasing a script into production – an act that’s never worked out too well for Bond films in the past. The down side is that it could cost us a suitable send-off for Craig.

James Bond Will Return… but when, and played by whom?

Boyle Bounces Bond

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To the surprise of literally no one, 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.

Announced via Twitter, this news, while sad, is probably the least surprising announcement to come down the wire on the latest Bond film, apparently Craig’s final outing.

As exciting as the announcent of Boyle coming onboard was (along with writer John Hodge – whose status on the project is unknown but doubtful, given his close links to the director), there was much suspicion that the idiosyncratic director would fit well within the finely honed Eon machinery.

Now we’re left with a great deal of creative speculation on just what a Boyle Bond would have been like. I, for one, am not surprised but very disappointed at the thought of what might have been, something special for Craig’s swan song.