Danny Boyle Calls His Exit From ‘Bond 25’ a ‘Great Shame’

By Jordan Moreau

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Director Danny Boyle has finally spoken out after leaving the upcoming 25th James Bond movie over creative differences.

After splitting from the new 007 flick last August , Boyle told Empire in a story published on Thursday that the script he penned with his “Trainspotting” co-writer John Hodge “wasn’t finished, but it could have been really good.”

The Bond producers tapped “Beasts of No Nation” helmer Cary Joji Fukunaga last September to replace Boyle, who added that there are no hard feelings about his departure or the new direction of the film.

“We were working very, very well, but they didn’t want to go down that route with us,” he went on. “So we decided to part company, and it would be unfair to say what it was because I don’t know what Cary is going to do. I got a very nice message from him and I gave him my best wishes. It is just a great shame.”

After Boyle’s departure, Oscar winner Rami Malek and Billy Magnussen have been in talks to play the villain and a CIA operative, respectively, in Bond’s new outing. Production on the still unnamed film will start this spring, and longtime producer Barbara Broccoli has ruled out rumors that the title will be “Shatterhand.”

Boyle’s next project is “Yesterday,” a musical comedy about a man who one day is the only person to remember songs by the Beatles and makes a career by plagiarizing their music. It will debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 4.