Bond 25

Bond 25 is an upcoming spy film. It is the working title of the upcoming 25th film in the James Bond series to be produced by Eon Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film features Daniel Craig's fifth performance as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who co-wrote the script with Scott Z. Burns and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on an early draft by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. The film is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2020 and on 8 April 2020 in the United States.

Premise
James Bond has left active service when his friend Felix Leiter enlists his help in the search for a missing scientist. When it becomes apparent that they were abducted, Bond must confront a danger the likes of which the world has never seen.

Cast

 * Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007.
 * Rami Malek as the film's primary antagonist
 * Ralph Fiennes as M, the head of MI6 and Bond's superior officer.
 * Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, a former agent who left the field to become M's assistant.
 * Lashana Lynch as Nomi.
 * Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 chief of staff.
 * Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann, a psychiatrist and Bond's love interest who assisted him on a previous mission.
 * Ben Whishaw as Q, the MI6 quartermaster who outfits Bond with equipment for use in the field.
 * Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, Bond's friend and a CIA field officer.
 * Ana de Armas as Paloma.
 * David Dencik as Waldo, a villain.

Dali Benssalah and Billy Magnussen have been cast in undisclosed roles.

Development
Development of the film began in spring 2016. As Sony Pictures' contract to co-produce the James Bond films with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions expired with the release of Spectre, another major film studio was expected to land the distribution rights to release Bond 25 in cinemas. In April 2017 Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Annapurna Pictures entered a bidding competition to win the distribution rights. Universal won distribution rights.

Series veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade&mdash;who had worked on every Bond film since The World Is Not Enough&mdash;were approached to pen the script in March 2017. Sam Mendes stated that he would not return as director despite the success of his previous two Bond films, Skyfall and Spectre. Longtime favourite Christopher Nolan ruled himself out to direct. By July 2017, Yann Demange, David Mackenzie and Denis Villeneuve were courted to direct the film. In December 2017, Villeneuve opted out of the role due to his commitments to Dune. In February 2018, Danny Boyle was established as a frontrunner for the directing position and Boyle's original pitch to Broccoli and Wilson saw John Hodge brought onto the project and writing a screenplay based on Boyle's idea, with Purvis and Wade's version scrapped. Hodge's draft was greenlit, Universal secured the film's distribution rights, and Boyle was confirmed to helm the film with a production start date of December 2018. However, Boyle left the production in August 2018 due to creative differences, and the film's release date became contingent on whether they could replace Boyle with a suitable director within sixty days. A spokeswoman for Hodge confirmed that he also was no longer involved. With Boyle's departure, several directors from film and television were considered for the position,   and Cary Joji Fukunaga was announced as the new director in September 2018 via the official James Bond Twitter account. Fukunaga became the first American in the history of the series to direct an official James Bond film. Linus Sandgren was hired as cinematographer in December 2018.

With Boyle's departure, Purvis and Wade were brought back to rework the script in September 2018. Casino Royale screenwriter Paul Haggis was brought in to rewrite Purvis & Wade's script in November 2018. Scott Z. Burns was brought on to work on the screenplay in February 2019. At Craig's request, Killing Eve writer and creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge provided a script polish in April 2019 to add more humour. Waller-Bridge will be the second female screenwriter credited with writing a Bond film after Johanna Harwood wrote From Russia with Love. Producer Barbara Broccoli announced that Bond's attitude towards women would change in Bond 25 as a response to the Me Too movement.

Casting
Spectre was speculated to be Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond. In May 2016, it was reported on several websites and news platforms that Craig had received a $100 million offer from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to reprise his role of Bond in two more films, but turned it down, suggesting that Spectre would likely be his final Bond film. Craig denied having made a decision but praised his time playing Bond thus far, describing it as "the best job in the world doing Bond." He further denied that $150 million was offered to him for the next two Bond instalments. He stated that the fact he had not made any decisions on returning to the role in the past was because of his focus on other projects such as Logan Lucky. In August 2017, Craig confirmed he would return for his final appearance as Bond while on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In July 2018, Craig travelled to the United States to visit the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and to find out more about how the intelligence agency operates. The CIA said, "Mr Craig met with our leadership and workforce, who explained that real-life espionage is a lot more 'cloak' and a lot less 'dagger' than presented in the entertainment world of spy v spy."

Numerous reports indicated that Christoph Waltz had signed on to return as Ernst Stavro Blofeld for further 007 films on the condition that Craig returned as Bond. Despite Craig's definite casting as Bond, Waltz announced that he would not return as Blofeld. During Danny Boyle's time as director on the film, a leaked casting sheet described the villain role as a "cold and charismatic Russian" and the Bond girl role as a "witty and skillful survivor." Production also sought after a henchman of Māori descent with "advanced combat skills". These ideas presumably changed shape following Boyle and Hodge's exit. In December 2018, Fukunaga revealed in an interview that Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and Ralph Fiennes would all be reprising their roles in the film, with Fukunaga not ruling out a possible return from Waltz's Blofeld. Fukunaga also revealed that Léa Seydoux would be reprising her role as Madeliene Swann, making her the second actress to portray a Bond girl in successive films, after Eunice Gayson portrayed Sylvia Trench in Dr. No and From Russia With Love. Rory Kinnear will return as Bill Tanner, as will Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter. Wright makes his first appearance in the series since Quantum of Solace and becomes the first actor to play Felix Leiter three times.

Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, David Dencik, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen and Rami Malek were announced as cast members in a live stream, at Ian Fleming's Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. This live stream on 25 April 2019 marked the official start of production. Malek was further announced as playing the film's villain.

Filming
Production was scheduled to begin on 3 December 2018 at Pinewood Studios, but filming was delayed until April 2019 after the departure of Boyle as director. Production commenced in Nittedal, Norway, with the second unit capturing scenes at a frozen lake. Filming began prior to the official start of production to take advantage of local weather conditions. Filming locations will include Matera in Italy, Jamaica, Norway and London, in addition to Pinewood Studios. The film will be the first in the franchise to have sequences shot on IMAX film cameras. Principal photography officially began on 28 April 2019 in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Daniel Craig sustained an ankle injury in May whilst performing a stunt in Jamaica, and subsequently underwent minor surgery.

Release
Bond 25 was originally scheduled for release on 8 November 2019. Following Danny Boyle's departure, the release date was pushed back first to 14 February 2020 and then later to 8 April. The film is due to be released outside North America on 3 April.