The British director says that the producers “lost faith” in his vision for 007.
In May 2018, it became official that Danny Boyle would direct a new Bond film with Daniel Craig. (The duo had already had to work together on a short film for the 2012 Olympics where Boyle got to make his mark on 007’s world.) But the summer barely had time to pass before Boyle left the project. They blamed “creative disagreements” and the assignment went to Cary Fukunaga instead.
Now Danny Boyle tells about what happened when he got the coveted job, which of course comes with a lot of pressure.
- I remember how I thought, should I really go into a franchise? Because they rarely want anything different. They want you to redecorate it a little bit, but without challenging it, and we wanted to do something different.
In an interview with Esquire, the director behind films such as “Trainspotting” and “Yesterday” reveals what his Bond film would be about.
- Strangely enough, it is a current topic. It would take place entirely in Russia, where James Bond is of course descended from: the Cold War. It took place in today’s Russia and went back to its origins. But they (the producers) lost faith in it, quite simply. And that was really a shame.
But details from Boyle’s and John Hodge’s screenplay were eventually included in “No Time to Die,” directed by Cary Fukunaga. For example, they planned to give James Bond a daughter – and that he would die in the end. However, Boyle does not think he will return to James Bond’s world if a new opportunity arises:
- I have learned that I am not created for franchises. You do not want to dig the same hole again. I do better outside of mainstream movies, to be honest. But I’ve learned a lot about myself while working on Bond.
Danny Boyle’s non-mainstream filmmaking we will soon experience again when the miniseries “Pistol”, about the punk band S*x Pistols, comes to Disney + this summer.
