Danny Boyle reveals the real reason he quit Bond 25 last year

The director has explained the 'creative differences' that led him to walk away

Natasha Sporn29 April 2020

Danny Boyle has revealed why he quit Bond 25.

The Trainspotting director relinquished his role last August, with True Detective head Cary Joji Fukunaga stepping into the role weeks later.

At the time, no information other than “creative differences” was given for the departure, but Boyle has now revealed he pulled out because he didn’t want to “break up writing partnerships”.

“I learned quite a lot about myself working with Bond. I work in partnership with writers and I am not prepared to break it up,” he told Empire magazine.

“We were working very, very well, but they didn’t want to go down that route. So we decided to part company.”

Boyle had been signed up to direct the hotly-anticipated movie – which will be Daniel Craig’s last as 007 – alongside John Hodge, his long-time writing partner.

In a statement last September, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson confirmed Fukunaga would step into the role with production being pushed back by a few months.

“We are delighted to be working with Cary," they said. "His versatility and innovation make him an excellent choice for our next James Bond adventure.”

Recently, Broccoli was forced to shut down rumours that the upcoming film will be called Shatterhand, after the working title for the production was leaked.

The snappy title had long been rumoured for the upcoming film, with the name referring to an alias used by supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who featured in You Only Live Twice.

But Broccoli rubbished any rumours that the film will be released with that title, using an autographed script as the perfect time to write “it’s not” above the word “Shatterhand”.