Everything seemed to finally be going smoothly with the new James Bond movie, now that the lead actor was secured for the part, but now the movie is in need of a new director. The production will need to find one fast if it wants to avoid significant delays since Bond 25 already has a release date, and it's now being reported that the studio is already talking to potential replacements, including Jean-Marc Vallee and even Edgar Wright.
With Bond 25 set to open next November production will need to start fairly soon which means the movie doesn't have much time to replace Danny Boyle who left the project earlier this week due to the "creative differences" that so frequently throw a monkey wrench into film productions. However, Deadline has reported that producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have already approached two potential directors. The first was Jean-Marc Vallee, the director of Dallas Buyers Club and the first season of HBO's Big Little Lies. However, it looks like scheduling may prevent Vallee from taking the job. The frontrunner then might actually be Edgar Wright who has also been approached.
If Wright doesn't work out either, there are allegedly a pair of other directors on the short list to take over from Danny Boyle, Hell or High Water's David Mackenzie is one and Yann Demange, director of the upcoming White Boy Rick is the other, though it sounds like neither of them has had an actual conversation about the movie yet, they're just people the producers are interested in talking to.
Needless to say, the most interesting, and exciting, name mentioned here is Edgar Wright. While he's mostly known for off-beat movies like Shaun of the Dead or Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, he is without question a skilled director and the idea of putting him in charge of a James Bond movie is a great one. Wright is a director with style and that's a huge part of any James Bond movie as well. While he may not be the first name you think of when considering directors for James Bond movies, Danny Boyle wouldn't necessarily have been at the top of that list either, so clearly the producers are willing to think outside the box, even though the first attempt at doing so didn't work out.
There's also a touch of irony in the idea of Edgar Wright being brought into the James Bond franchise after one director left due to creative differences, since the last time Wright was going to get involved in a major film series he ended up leaving the MCU's Ant-Man for the same reason.
The current rumor is that Danny Boyle's exit from the new James Bond movie came due to a clash with Daniel Craig over casting. Producers will certainly want to be sure whoever they hire now is on the same page with Craig. If they can find a replacement soon, and they plan to keep the existing script, then it's still possible Bond 25 could make its release date. We'll keep an eye on this to be sure.
