Last August, the news broke that director Danny Boyle departed from Bond 25 due to “creative differences” – an explanation so vague that it’s no wonder the internet has since offered a variety of conflicting reports about what really happened behind the scenes.
Shortly after Boyle’s departure, for instance, The Telegraph relayed word that the point of conflict was the film’s villain, with Daniel Craig allegedly disagreeing over Boyle’s choice of Polish actor Tomasz Kot. But while this report remains unconfirmed, the Daily Star now claims to have heard it from a source in LA that the real disagreement was over Boyle’s desire to end Craig’s run as James Bond by killing off the character.
Allegedly, the Trainspotting helmsman thought that having 007 die in the arms of Léa Seydoux’s returning character would be a “brilliant” means of paving the way for the next Bond. Both producer Barbara Broccoli and Craig himself, however, were reportedly unhappy with the idea, and felt that audiences should be “left guessing as to the plight of their man.”
Seeing how this isn’t the only explanation we’ve heard for Boyle’s departure, the claim should probably be taken with a pretty sizable grain of salt, but as controversial as killing off Bond may’ve been, it’s not hard to imagine this conclusion working if handled well. After all, Craig’s run in the series has frequently ventured into dark, gritty, even tragic territory that Bond’s previous incarnations didn’t dare touch, and proving the hero’s mortality might’ve been a fittingly subversive end for a character who’s often seemed inhumanly invincible.
Regardless, we’ll find out what director Cary Joji Fukunaga has in mind instead when Bond 25 hits theaters on April 8th, 2020.
