Danny Boyle has announced that he will take over directing duties on the next ‘James Bond’ film.
Speaking to Metro US, Danny confirmed that he is “working on a [‘Bond’] script right now”, while simultaneously “working on a Richard Curtis script”, which will begin shooting in “six to seven weeks”.
He also revealed that he will be once again be collaborating with screenwriter John Hodge, with whom he previously worked on ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘The Beach’ and ‘Trainspotting’, as well as its recent sequel, ‘T2’.
Danny succeeds Sam Mendes as ‘Bond’ director. Sam was at the helm for the two most recent instalments of the franchise, ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Spectre’.
Danny’s previous directing credits include ‘127 Hours’, ‘28 Days Later’ and the aforementioned ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, for which he scooped the Academy Award for Best Director in 2008.
In addition to his film and television work, Danny famously served as artistic director for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
Fellow British director Christopher Nolan was previously rumoured for the gig, but shot down reports during an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ last month.
He insisted: “I’d love to make a Bond film at some point and I think [Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson] do a tremendous job... and Sam Mendes has done a terrific job the last couple of films, so they don’t particularly need me.
“But I’ve always been inspired by the films and would love to do one someday.”
It was confirmed last year that the upcoming ‘James Bond’ film, the 25th overall, would be Daniel Craig’s final outing in the titular role of 007.
The upcoming film will be his fifth as James Bond, having taken over from Pierce Brosnan for 2006’s ‘Casino Royale’.