Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle will be replacing Sam Mendes as the man to direct Britain’s most famous pop-cultural export: James Bond. However, the “Trainspotting” director is bringing a modern twist: the Bond girl will reflect the #MeToo era.
Speaking with Page Six, Danny Boyle said that he will be looking to the “modern world” in his portrayal of women. When asked if #MeToo and Time’s Up will influence the women characters, Boyle told Page Six on Thursday, “You write in real time.”
“You acknowledge the legacy of the world [of Bond] and you write in the world — but you also write in the modern world as well,” said Boyle.
The director revealed no specifics as to how this Bond girl will be portrayed.
The Bond franchise has become notorious for objectifying women, though the best Bond girl to shed many of those cliches was undoubtedly Eva Green’s Vesper in “Casino Royale” — a woman who challenges Bond’s personality and changes him for the better. Other than Green’s Vesper, every Bond girl since has fallen short, reaching a nadir during that creepy sex scene in “Skyfall” when Bond jumped into the shower with a woman who just previously confessed to him about being a former sex slave.
Boyle, who won an Academy Award for “Slumdog Millionaire” and has a reputation for taking genres to new heights, such as zombies in “28 Days Later,” will undoubtedly deliver an interesting take on the famed secret agent.
As to when audiences can expect to see this new Bond, Boyle said, “I am working on a Richard Curtis script at the moment. We hope to start shooting that in six or seven weeks. Then, Bond would be right at the end of the year.”
This next Bond film will be Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007.