While all the talk regarding Danny Boyle over the past few weeks has been his potential involvement in the next James Bond film – supposedly he’s re-teaming with Trainspotting writer John Hodge to work on the script – a new report from THR suggests he’s going in a totally different direction.
Boyle is now reportedly looking to team up with Love Actually writer Richard Curtis to work on an untitled comedy film at Universal. “Details are being kept under lock and key but it is known to be musically themed and have a setting of the 1960s or 1970s”, the report goes on to say. Universal want to get filming as soon as this summer if they can get a cast together.
Reportedly, this leaves a potential Boyle-helmed Bond on the backburner, and would push Bond 25 back from its current release date of November 8, 2019 if producers do want Boyle to send Daniel Craig‘s 007 out on a high note. However, it’s possible all this talk of a comedy is just hard-line negotiating from Boyle’s side.
He’s in-demand, and doesn’t really need to do a Bond film, so it’s very possible this is all just a way for the director to get to direct Bond his way, rather than under much supervision from producers.
However, while Boyle doesn’t need Bond, it’s arguable if the 007 franchise needs a big director to succeed. Most general audiences won’t care who’s directing the latest instalment of their beloved spy franchise, they just want it to be good.
It seems unlikely that Boyle will end up doing both films. Either he’ll do the comedy with Curtis, and Bond producers find another director for the gig and keep their November 2019 release date intact. Or Boyle will drop the comedy and do Bond 25 instead.
Boyle at the helm of 007 would certainly be interesting, and would probably match the excitement of Sam Mendes being announced for Skyfall, and that worked out rather well. Of course, many Bond films live or die by their scripts (hello, Spectre), so getting the right screenwriter is paramount.
We’ll wait and see if this untitled comedy is a serious avenue Boyle is going down, and if so, wait for more details to emerge.
#Peace.Love.Boyle
