Spymaster writing duo rescue Bond

After the imbroglio that saw the Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle dramatically quit Bond 25, there are stirrings in the Secret Service world of 007.

Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge withdrew from the movie, which had been due to shoot later this year, when Bond actor Daniel Craig (right), along with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (the long-time guardians of the Ian fleming film franchise), wanted to use another writer. Boyle refused and left.

the whole thing’s a hot mess and Broccoli has been in Los Angeles meeting a variety of film-makers who might take over directing duties.

However, things are moving on the script front.

Neal Purvis and robert Wade (who were originally hired to write Bond 25 — its working title — before Boyle and Hodge were lured) have had their licence renewed and have bonded with Bond again.

‘the Purvis and Wade treatment they wrote earlier was already signed off before the bromance with Danny Boyle and John Hodge began,’ a Hollywood executive close to the production explained.

Purvis and Wade, working on their seventh 007 thriller, will develop their ‘treatment’ into a script.

that won’t be the end of it, though, because once a director has been contracted (heaven only knows who and when), he or she will want to put their own stamp on it in the way that Sam Mendes (who was at the helm of Skyfall and Spectre) brought in screenwriter John Logan, though in both instances Purvis and Wade contributed to Logan’s scripts.

there’s a keenness for women to be more front-andcentre in Bond 25, which will be Craig’s last run as fleming’s famous ‘blunt instrument’ of a British intelligence operative.