Cary Fukunaga will direct the next James Bond movie. After a rocky few months that saw Danny Boyle drop out at the last minute – grinding the entire production to a halt and forcing a complete rewrite – Eon and MGM have confirmed that Bond 25 has a director again.
Filming is now scheduled to begin in March, with Valentine’s Day 2020 booked for a release date. Long-time Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writing the script (after Boyle took his Trainspotting scribe, John Hodge, with him, along with whatever his new idea for the film was) with no word yet on plot details, casting or filming locations.
The big coup here though is Fukunaga himself. Long considered the golden boy of Hollywood, his profile has been rising quickly since he conquered Sundance in 2009 with his debut, Sin Nombre. Jane Eyre, Beasts Of No Nation and True Detective followed – as did producing credits on It and The Alienist. His latest effort, the gloriously indefinable Maniac, has just launched on Netflix, and he’s already got a dozen other projects swirling.
More than a worthy replacement for Boyle, Fukunaga is an auteur filmmaker with an eye for cinematography and gritty drama. By far the most interesting of the other names being kicked around, it looks like Bond 25 might be back on track to give the series a much needed freshening-up before Daniel Craig bows out.
“We are delighted to be working with Cary,” say producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, confirming the story to Deadline. “His versatility and innovation make him an excellent choice for our next James Bond adventure”.
Finally some good news for 007.