Danny Boyle has revealed he stepped down as director of the new James Bond film after a dispute over the script.
The British filmmaker was confirmed to be directing the project – dubbed Bond 25 for the time being – back in May 2018, but three months later, a statement was put out revealing he’d left due to “creative differences”.
Elaborating on this in the new issue of Empire magazine, Danny explained he quit the film as producers would not allow him to collaborate with his long-time writing partner John Hodge.
Danny said: “I work in partnership with writers and I am not prepared to break it up … We were working very, very well, but they didn’t want to go down that route with us. So we decided to part company.
“What John Hodge and I were doing, I thought, was really good. It wasn’t finished, but it could have been really good … You have to believe in your process and part of that is the partnership I have with a writer.”
Last year, a statement co-signed by Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, as well as actor Daniel Craig, said: “Due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25.“
Danny has since been replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who previously directed the Netflix original film Beasts Of No Nation, as well as the miniseries Maniac, which debuted on the streaming service in 2018.
Bond 25 will serve as Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as 007, having first joined the franchise in 2006’s Casino Royale.