Daniel Craig wanted James Bond to die, Danny Boyle quit before letting that happen
While initial reports speculated that director Danny Boyle quit the 25th James Bond film over disagreements regarding casting an unknown actor as the villain, a new report suggests otherwise. It is now being said that Boyle quit over ‘ridiculous’ plot demands that would’ve required him to kill off Agent 007 at the end of the film. Boyle is said to have refused to comply, and chose to depart the project over ‘creative differences’.
The Sun reports that star Daniel Craig and producer Barbara Broccoli wanted Bond to die in a ‘spectacular finale’ - an idea Boyle is said to have labelled ‘ridiculous’. The report quotes a source as saying, “There were discussions about killing off Bond in dramatic fashion at the end. It would also leave it open for a twist in the next instalment — either Bond hadn’t died or there could be a Doctor Who-esque regeneration with a new actor.”
Craig famously said after the release of his last Bond film, Spectre, that he would rather slit his wrists than play the character again. He was wooed to return with a hefty $25 million paycheck, excluding a cut from the profits. Craig in 2017 announced that he would return for one final film, before leaving the character for good.
It has been recently speculated that following the delay in Bond 25’s production, the producers are considering their options about replacement filmmakers and perhaps even looking at a replacement for Craig, in the form of Idris Elba.
Boyle had turned in a script with his Trainspotting co-writer John Hodge, which the producers were said to have approved. Filming was supposed to begin in London at the end of the year, with a November 2019 release date planned. But the report says that all was not well during pre-production. “There were clashes over budget and there’s pandemonium among crew with people leaving the production left, right and centre,” the report quotes the source as saying.