With the picture’s star and director both firmly in place, temporarily calming years of will-they-won’t-they speculation and dream-team fantasizing, we now also have some official release dates for the next James Bond movie. The world famous spy’s 25th film will first be hitting UK cinemas on October 25th, 2019, followed two weeks later by a US release on November 8th.
The first 007 flick since 2015’s Spectre, Bond 25 will see the return of Daniel Craig for his fifth outing in the role, though there was certainly a time when we didn’t think we’d see the day. Back in 2015, the actor infamously joked that he’d rather “slash [his] wrists” than play the character again. Craig changed his tune the following year, however, taking back his previous statements and saying at the The New Yorker Festival that he’s “got the best job in the world” and that he would miss it terribly if he ever stopped.
When production starts on December 3rd, 2018, Craig will be working with Danny Boyle, the director of such acclaimed movies as Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire. Earlier this year, Boyle discarded a script penned by regular Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, enlisting the services of writer John Hodge who previously collaborated with him on several projects, including Shallow Grave and the aforementioned Trainspotting.
Another factor that was up in the air for a while was the distribution rights to Bond 25. While various giants from Warner Bros. to Apple competed for ownership, international rights eventually went to Universal Studios, with MGM and Annapurna Pictures getting domestic distribution.
Of course, there are plenty of details about the project that we’re still awaiting – from the film’s title, to its supporting cast, to who gets to sing the theme song – so you can expect a steady stream of fresh reasons to keep us hyped until Bond 25’s November 8th release.