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Once upon a time, Danny Boyle was set to direct Daniel Craig’s swansong as James Bond.
The Oscar-winning British director behind Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire and the upcoming Rupert Murdoch biopic Ink, was originally set to direct 2021’s No Time To Die before exiting due to alleged creative differences. He was ultimately replaced by Beasts Of No Nation filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga.
“When they asked me to do Bond, we came up with the story [with John Hodge] and they lost confidence in it,” he said at the Zurich Film Festival. “It’s a shame, because it could have been really good.”
The Bond-helmer-we-never-got also weighed in on who he thinks should be the next 007, naming British actor Jack O’Connell as his choice to replace Daniel Craig.
“They should cast Jack O’Connell as Bond,” he said at the festival, per Variety, before praising O’Connell’s performance in the 2024 Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black and as infamous British tabloid editor Larry Lamb in Ink.
“Have you seen Back to Black? It’s a wonderful film. He plays the boyfriend [Blake Fielder-Civil] and that’s an impossible part. It was an incredible performance,” said Boyle.
O’Connell’s name has been mentioned as a possible Bond contender during the audition process, but has not been elevated to frontrunner status like Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi and Jack Barton.
The 36-year-old actor got his big break in the E4 series Skins and is best known for starring in the Oscar-winning film Sinners and Boyle’s 28 Years Later – one of Euronews Culture’s Best Movies of 2026… So Far.
Boyle also expressed strong support for Bond 26 director Denis Villeneuve.
“Villeneuve is amazing. Did you see that beginning of [Dune: Part Three], which they showed before The Odyssey? God, if I was directing The Odyssey, I would have thought everybody would be disappointed in my film following it. But obviously, Chris Nolan has more confidence than I have.”
Boyle is not the first to throw his support behind a Bond contender. Jack Lowden’s Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman recently said that Lowen would be his pick for Bond.
“Jack, it’s been rumored that he’s on the shortlist,” said Oldman while appearing on the Canadian talk show The Morning Show. “We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack.”
Casting for the seventh James Bond remains unannounced, but not long to find out… Bond 26 producer Amy Pascal recently shared that “the end of the year is a good bet” when it comes to the timing of the new actor’s announcement.
“I would say the end of the year is a good bet,” said Pascal. “We are being really, really methodical. Having worked with Barbara Broccoli at the studio, I mean, Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow. And it’s got to be something really different that is stirring and exciting and different.”
Production on Bond 26 is expected to kick off in 2027, with a release planned for 2028.
Danny Boyle’s Ink premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival. It is releasing in limited theatres on 11 December before streaming on Netflix on 8 January 2027.