Back in the spring it came out that Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge were working on a script for Bond 25 and that Boyle was maybe-probably going to direct it. Everyone leapt on it like it was a done deal but it sounded wishy-washy to me, and I specifically asked: “Like what happens if they—MGM and Eon Productions, the stewards of 007—don’t like the script John Hodge writes? Does Boyle walk away?” Well, in the end, that is pretty much what happened. Yesterday the official Bond Twitter account announced that Danny Boyle is departing Bond 25 over “creative differences”. 

This leaves Bond 25 in something of a lurch as it is scheduled to start filming in December for a November 2019 release. They only have a few months to find a new director and get things going in a more functional direction. (Or they could, you know, reschedule the release and take their time but very few studios are willing to do that.) Other studios have gone through similar predicaments—Marvel is currently in the weeds with Guardians of the Galaxy 3, but they have done this before on much shorter notice, whereas EON has not had this public level of director trouble in the recent era. It’ll be interesting watching how they cope.

The Bond rumor mill exists in a perpetual state of out of control, but let’s talk potential directors. I’ll throw out two names, the first of which is Susanne Bier of Night Manager fame. Given her output on that series, she’s a natural fit for Bond. She is, however, currently in post-production on a movie and it may not be feasible for her to finish that up and turn around for Bond within four months. But the Bond producers should at least give her a call and see what’s up. The other name is Michelle MacLaren. She is currently attached to Chris Pratt’s project Cowboy Ninja Viking, but that was recently taken off Universal’s release calendar, so she might have some free time to kill. What I’m saying is, maybe EON should look outside their usual boundaries for this one since doing things the way they’ve always been done isn’t working out so great.