In 2018, it was announced that British filmmaker Danny Boyle was to helm the upcoming 'James Bond' movie. Three months later, he left the project.
"I remember thinking, 'Should I really get involved in franchises?' Because they don't really want something different," Boyle told Esquire. "They want you to freshen it up a bit, but not really challenge it, and we wanted to do something different with it.
"Weirdly — it would have been very topical now — it was all set in Russia, which is of course where Bond came from, out of the Cold War. It was set in present-day Russia and went back to his origins, and they just lost, what's the word… they just lost confidence in it. It was a shame really."
The rumours began to circulate following Boyle's exit from the project. One in particular that gained some traction was that Boyle left because of pushback over his and writer John Hodge's decision to kill off Bond.
But of course, given the ending of 'No Time to Die', which eventually came out last year after three premiere delays and a big injury layoff for Daniel Craig, that decision was made anyway.
When asked if he'd ever return to the Bond franchise, Boyle responded with "I don't think so." However, he does think that a certain leading man would be a great candidate for the next 007. "[Robert] Pattinson would be a great Bond." 'I May Destroy You' star Paapa Essiedu also impressed Boyle, who says would be another great casting for Bond.
Boyle has directed the upcoming Disney+ series 'Pistol' about the rise of British punk band the Sex Pistols. The series will star Maisie Williams alongside relative newcomers Toby Wallace as Steve Jones, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Anson Boon as Johnny Rotten and Jacob Slater as Paul Cook.
'Pistol' releases on Disney+ on May 31.
