For en stund tilbake, rapporterte vi at den britiske Oscar-vinneren Danny Boyle risikerte å havne i tidsklemme med to store prosjekter, men at den tidlige innspillingen av Beatles-musikalen All You Need is Love signaliserte at det likevel ble mulig for ham å ta på seg oppdraget å regissere den nye James Bond-filmen.
Nå bekrefter omsider EON Productions og MGM at det er Boyle som skal styre Bond 25-skuta (den siste med Daniel Craig om bord), og at innspillingen starter i desember. Filmens manuskript er ført i pennen av John Hodge, som tidligere har samarbeidet med Boyle om blant annet Trainspotting-filmene og Trance. Her er den offisielle pressemeldingen:
«EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) have reached an agreement with Universal Pictures to partner on the worldwide release of the 25th James Bond film, it was announced today by EON Productions’ Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, MGM’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kevin Ulrich and President, Motion Picture Group, Jonathan Glickman, and Chairman of Universal Pictures, Donna Langley.
Daniel Craig will return as 007, the legendary British secret agent, and Academy Award®-winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Steve Jobs) will direct from an original screenplay by Academy Award® nominee John Hodge (Trainspotting).
Production on Bond 25 is set to begin December 3, 2018. MGM will release the film theatrically in the U.S. on November 8, 2019 through its new joint venture for domestic theatrical distribution with Annapurna Pictures, and Universal will release internationally commencing with a traditional earlier release in the U.K. on October 25, 2019.
Under this arrangement, MGM will retain digital and worldwide television distribution rights. Universal will also handle physical home entertainment distribution.
Wilson and Broccoli commented, “We are delighted to announce that the exceptionally talented Danny Boyle will be directing Daniel Craig in his fifth outing as James Bond in the 25th installment of the franchise. We will begin shooting Bond 25 at Pinewood Studios in December with our partners at MGM and thrilled that Universal will be our international distributor.”
“Under the leadership of Michael and Barbara, we couldn’t be more thrilled than to bring the next 007 adventure to the big screen uniting the incomparable Daniel Craig with the extraordinary vision of Danny Boyle,” said Ulrich. Glickman added, “It has been 16 years since Die Another Day was distributed by MGM and it’s incredibly gratifying to be releasing this film alongside the powerhouse team at Universal.»»
Verdenspremieren vil finne sted 25. oktober, 2019, i Storbritannia. Internasjonal premiere blir et par uker senere, nærmere bestemt 9. november.