Beasts Of No Nation director Cary Fukunaga has been named the director of the upcoming untitled, twenty-fifth installment of the James Bond franchise. His hiring makes him the first American director to take on the iconic British series.
Fukunaga will be taken over directorial chores from Danny Boyle, who dropped out of the project last month when he clashed with producers over the proposed screenplay for the film which he co-authored with Trainspotting scribe John Hodge. Franchise veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are back handling script duties. The film is looking to be star Daniel Craig’s last outing as the iconic cinematic British spy.
Producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli were reported to have met with a number of potential directors after Boyle’s departure including Edgar Wright (Baby Driver), Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Denis Villenueve (Arrival), Yann Demange (White Boy Rick) and David Mackenzie (Hell Or High Water).
Boyle’s departure was thought to have potentially majorly delayed the film. However, the announcement of Fukunaga’s hiring states that producers hope to have the project in front of cameras next March for a February 14, 2020 release. That would put the delay in the film reaching screen at only three months. The postponed start date does allow Craig to shoot the thriller Knives Out for Rian Johnson in the space when Bond 25 was originally set to go.
Fukunaga is a great choice and one that illustrates that Wilson and Broccoli continue to look for directors with strong story-telling skills as well as a knack for visual flair. While it is disappointing that we no longer have the prospect of a Danny Boyle Bond film in our future, I am intrigued by Fukunaga will bring, or at least be allowed to bring given how much control over their directors the producers like to have in this franchise.
