Danny Boyle Opens Up About His One Regret After Leaving JAMES BOND Behind
When Danny Boyle walked away from directing James Bond 25 back in 2018, it was a surprise and a shock because a lot of fans wanted to see how he would handle the franchise.
Now, years later, the Oscar-winning director is looking back on that decision, and while he’s not second-guessing it, he admits there’s one thing that still lingers.
Speaking to Business Insider, Boyle made it clear that returning to Bond isn't in the cards, especially now that the franchise has a new home with Amazon. “That ship has sailed,” he said.
Boyle then revealed that he still regrets leaving behind the script he was developing with his longtime collaborator John Hodge (the duo behind Trainspotting and T2).
“The script was really good. John Hodge is a wonderful writer.”
That's the part that stings him, not the big-budget, globe-trotting spectacle or the pressure of following up Spectre, but abandoning a story he and he and Hodge believed in.
Before Cary Joji Fukunaga stepped in and No Time To Die became Daniel Craig’s swan song, Boyle and Hodge had cooked up something that reportedly involved a Russian villain and Bond’s death, which did eventually happen in the final film.
According to the report, that element was already baked into Craig’s contract. So even though Boyle’s version never made it to screen, some of its DNA may have survived.
Boyle’s original take could’ve given us a radically different Bond finale, one with his signature visual flair and subversive storytelling. But creative clashes with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson ultimately led to his departure.
Broccoli, speaking before Amazon’s acquisition of the franchise, was adamant about protecting the core of the character:
“There have been so many erroneous rumours about the future of Bond. Amazon is committed to keeping the spirit of Bond alive and that means he has to be British or from the Commonwealth – and he has to be male.”
So while the future of 007 remains wide open, and Amazon undoubtedly has plans, don’t expect Boyle to be part of it. His Bond moment passed, but I sure would love to read that script that Hodge wrote!