Daniel Craig to return as 007 in 2019, Slumdog Millionaire director at helm
Daniel Craig is back as James Bond, the spy series’ producers confirmed, in a Danny Boyle-directed film due for release in 2019.
Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions announced on Thursday that production on the 25th official James Bond thriller will begin in December at London’s Pinewood Studios.
“We are delighted to announce that the exceptionally talented Danny Boyle will be directing Daniel Craig in his fifth outing as James Bond in the 25th installment of the franchise. We (are) thrilled that Universal will be our international distributor,” they said in a statement.
Craig will reprise his role as 007 and Oscar-winner Boyle, who was behind Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, will direct from a screenplay by Boyle’s frequent collaborator John Hodge. Confirmation of Craig’s fifth Bond film followed speculation that the 50-year-old actor was about to hand in his license to kill.
He said in 2015 that he would rather “slash my wrists” than return to the role — but later backtracked on those remarks, made just after he finished filming his fourth Bond film, Spectre. Boyle has directed Craig as Bond once before, in a 007-themed segment for the opening of the 2012 London Olympics.
EON said that after more than a decade at Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures will release the next instalment of the superspy franchise internationally. MGM will handle the US release.
Sony’s Bond contract expired in 2015 and many of the major studios competed for the chance to distribute the profitable franchise. As per tradition, Bond 25 will open a bit earlier in the UK, on October 25, 2019, than in the US, where it will debut on November 8.
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