Now that it's been confirmed that Daniel Craig will reprise James Bond one last time, the next biggest question is who will direct the actor's last hurrah as 007. Ever since Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes announced that he wouldn't be returning for Bond 25, there have been rumors and reports aplenty about who might succeed him, but so far none have panned out. However, today brings work that Slumdog Millionaire's Danny Boyle is high on the list to helm the next James Bond installment.
While a formal offer hasn't been made yet, Variety has heard that MGM and Eon Productions, the companies behind the James Bond franchises, is particularly keen on having Danny Boyle direct Bond 25, with him being one of the main frontrunners. Boyle has previously expressed interest in directing a James Bond movie, and while he's currently working on a project for Working Title, since said project doesn't have a cast assembled yet, it's possible that could be pushed back in favor of him tackling Great Britain's suave MI6 agent.
While Danny Boyle hasn't previously delved into the realm of spy movies, he does have some experience directing pulse-pounding tales through his work on 28 Days Later, which followed a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic environment where most of the Earth's population has been turned into zombie-like creatures (Boyle also produced the sequel, 28 Weeks Later). Boyle's other credits include the Trainspotting movies, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Steve Jobs and the upcoming FX miniseries Trust. MGM and Eon have supposedly been eager for Boyle to helm a James Bond movie stretching all the way back to 2012's Skyfall, so reaching a deal with him would be a major achievement.
Danny Boyle is the newest frontrunner to emerge for the Bond 25 directing gig. Last summer, it was reported that Denis Villeneuve, David Mackenzie and Yann Demange were all in consideration, but Villeneuve later removed himself from the running due to his packed schedule. Supposedly Demange was being closely looked at to direct, but with Annapurna now expected to take over distribution from Sony, there's been a new push to go after a more well-known director. Christopher Nolan also recently confirmed that he will not direct Bond 25, though that doesn't necessarily rule out him jumping onto the franchise for a later installment. Although no official Bond 25 plot details have come out yet, Léa Seydoux is rumored to be reprising her Spectre character, Dr. Madeline Swan.
Bond 25 is scheduled to hit theaters on November 8, 2019, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news on Daniel Craig's last 007 outing. To learn about movies arriving to theaters this year, look through our 2018 release schedule.
