Boyle: 007 is an impossible job

DANNY Boyle has hinted at why he unexpectedly quit as director of the next James Bond film.

The Oscar winner, who was due to direct the 25th instalment of the franchise, said it would be ‘impossible’ for a fan of Ian Fleming’s Bond books, like himself, to direct or write one of the films.

In an interview with Radio Times last month – conducted five days before it was announced he had pulled out over ‘creative differences’ – the Slumdog Millionaire director said: ‘The books were everything to me when I was a kid. I read them multiple times.

‘It’d be impossible for a Bond aficionado to write or direct a Bond film. You’d be hampered by how much you knew. They want you to bring a freshness to it.’

Some insiders said Boyle left after a row over the script, while others said it was over the casting of the film’s villain.