Danny Boyle confirms that both he and screenwriter John Hodge are working on a script for Bond 25.

There is a fairly constant stream of speculation when it comes to the production of the upcoming 25th James Bond film and it seems at least once every few weeks we find ourselves reporting the latest rumours surrounding Daniel Craig’s fifth film in the long-running franchise. Firstly there was the question regarding whether Craig would return at all; when this was finally confirmed, attention then turned to who would direct the film.

Speculation was finally put to rest recently with the news that Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire director, Danny Boyle had been slated to take the helm. At a recent screening in New York of Boyle’s new FX TV show, Trust, Boyle was asked directly if he was in the running. Boyle’s reply firmly confirmed his involvement;

“We are working on a script right now. And it all depends on that really. I am working on a Richard Curtis script at the moment. We hope to start shooting that in 6 or 7 weeks. Then Bond would be right at the end of the year. But we are working on them both right now.”

When pushed for more information Boyle confirmed that screenwriter John Hodge, who has worked with Boyle on a number of projects including Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, T2: Trainspotting 2 and A Life less Ordinary, was working on a script and Boyle’s directing would depend on the outcome of that.

This would be 25th installment (26th if you include Never Say Never Again) of the longest running film series which began with Dr No in 1962. The last installment, Spectre, directed by Sam Mendes, cost a massive $245 million but managed to gross a very respectable $880 million worldwide despite some rather middling critical response.