Eon wants Boyle for Bond 25, Bamigboye says

UPDATE (9:10 p.m. New York Time): Baz Bamigboye now has a story on the Daily Mail website.

“James Bond star Daniel Craig is pulling out all the stops to ensure that Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle can complete a Richard Curtis Beatles movie musical in time to take charge of the new Bond film by the end of the year,” Bamigboye wrote.

Here’s a longer excerpt:

Craig attended a meeting with James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson and Boyle and his Trainspotting writing partner John Hodge, where the film-makers pitched their vision for Bond 25.

‘They took the idea to Barbara, never believing for a minute she would go for it. But she’s excited by the concept — and so is her producing partner Michael,’ a closely connected source told me in Los Angeles.

Bamigboye says Hodge hasn’t completed his script yet. The Daily Maily scribe describes Craig as one of the main forces pushing for Boyle to direct Bond 25.

“All my reporting suggests that by year’s end, the man who made Slumdog Millionaire will be putting Craig through his paces as Her Majesty’s Secret Service agent 007,” the Daily Mail scribe wrote.

ORIGINAL POST: Eon Productions wants Danny Boyle to direct Bond 25, is willing to wait until after he directs another movie *if* a script being written by John Hodge is acceptable, the Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye said on Twitter Thursday night.

“#DannyBoyle will direct next #007 film #Bond25 late this year after shooting #allyouneedislove for @Working_Title – as long as Bond screenplay by #JohnHodge meets approval,” Bamigboye wrote in his Twitter post. “#BarbaraBroccoli #Michael G.Wilson & #DanielCraig ‘willing’ this to happen.”

Bamigboye, since 2011, has had a number of scoops about Skyfall, SPECTRE and Bond 25 proven correct. However, he has been silent in recent weeks as Variety and Deadline: Hollywood had Bond 25 stories.

Variety reported Feb. 20 that Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire and a video featuring Daniel Craig as Bond for the 2012 Summer Olympics, was being considered to helm Bond 25. Deadline went one better on Feb. 21, saying Boyle would direct Bond 25 only if a script being written by Hodge would be the basis of the film.

That would mean ditching a story that veteran 007 scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade had devised. Bamigboye reported a year ago that Purvis and Wade were hired to write Bond 25, which was confirmed in a July 24, 2017 announcement saying Bond 25 would be released in November 2019 in the U.S.

Things got more complicated when multiple entertainment news outlets reported that Boyle was going to direct a musical that could go into production fairly soon.

In effect, Bamigboye is saying all of the above is correct. If he’s right, Eon remains in its “prestige” phase, hiring auteur directors (Marc Forster, Sam Mendes). Stayed tuned. Meanwhile, you can view Bamigboye’s tweet for yourself.

#DannyBoyle will direct next #007 film #Bond25 late this year after shooting #allyouneedislove for @Working_Title – as long as Bond screenplay by #JohnHodge meets approval. #BarbaraBroccoli #Michael G.Wilson & #DanielCraig “willing” this to happen. pic.twitter.com/gAdAV9zUFf

— Baz Bamigboye (@BazBam) March 8, 2018

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MI6 Confidential, 007 Magazine out with new issues

The World Is Not Enough poster

Two separate publications are out that may be of interest to James Bond fans.

MI6 Confidential No. 44 focuses on The World Is Not Enough, the 19th James Bond film. The 1999 movie was the final 007 production of the 20th century and the third Bond film to star Pierce Brosnan.

Articles include a look at how Brosnan felt about the Bond role the third time out; a feature about Sophie Marceau and Denise Richards and the characters they played; and a story about how Robbie Coltrane returned to the series and his character was expanded.

The issue also has stories going beyond the movie, including one about production Peter Lamont and how he became involved in the film series and another about former United Artists executive Jeff Kleeman and his involvement with Bond in the 1990s

For ordering information, CLICK HERE. The price is 7 British pounds, $9.50 or 8.50 euros.

Meanwhile, 007 Magazine is accepting pre-orders for a 007 Magazine Archives Files issue devoted to Luciana Paluzzi, who played SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in Thunderball.

Luciana Paluzzi and Sean Connery during the filming of Thunderball

According to the publication, Paluzzi “discussed in detail her varied life and career.” Other highlights for Paluzzi included a pre-Thunderball appearance on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as another femme fatale. Toward the end of her career, she was a guest star in the original Hawaii Five-O series as an Italian journalist. On that episode, she played opposite Jack Lord, the first screen Felix Leiter.

For ordering information, CLICK HERE. The price is 9.99 British pounds, $15.99 and 11.99 euros. The issue is to begin shipping on March 26.