007 and counting… As the months tick down to the planned start of principal photography on the next entry in the EON franchise, the question of who will be appointed director on the new Bond movie has become more and more urgent. Ever since it emerged that Danny Boyle was being considered as a surprise possible director for Bond 25, the press and other media has been rife with rumours and speculation.

But now Boyle himself has spoken on the matter, confirming that this is not just rumour, but a serious possibility. Speaking on Wednesday (14th March) at the New York premiere of Trust, a ten-part television series on the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, Boyle confirmed that he has been collaborating on a Bond story idea with John Hodge, who wrote the screen treatments for Trainspotting (1996) and its recent sequel, T2. The Slumdog Millionaire director, who also oversaw a short ‘007’ film with Daniel Craig and Queen Elizabeth for the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, commented: ‘We’re working on a script at the moment and we’ll see what happens. But it’s a great idea so hopefully it’ll work. I’d love to be able to tell you more but I’m not going to’.

Boyle’s possible connection with Bond 25 was also evident in remarks he made in a separate interview, where he pointed out that he was working on a Richard Curtis movie (All You Need Is Love) for Working Title, so any involvement with Bond would be at the end of 2018: ‘I am working on a Richard Curtis script at the moment. We hope to start shooting that in six or seven weeks. Then Bond would be right at the end of the year. But we are working on them both right now. We’ve got an idea, John Hodge, the screenwriter, and I… and John is writing it at the moment. And it all depends on how it turns out. It would be foolish of of me to give any of it away’.

Boyle’s comments reinforce the news that leaked out recently that Boyle and his writing partner had pitched an idea for Bond 25 to EON for consideration. The 61-year old director also apparently has the backing of Bond star Daniel Craig, who will probably be playing 007 for the last time. It has also been reported that EON producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are both very keen on Boyle’s proposed story concept.

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