Why Danny Boyle quit James Bond

British filmmaker Danny Boyle will no longer direct the next instalment in the James Bond franchise owing to “creative differences”, the series producers announced on Tuesday.

Boyle, who won the best director Oscar in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire, agreed in March to direct the 25th Bond film. The Independent reports that he “had begun work on the script alongside Trainspotting writer John Hodge”.

However, a statement posted on the franchise’s official Twitter account said: “[Producers] Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25”.

The BBC reports that the as yet untitled film, which is Craig’s fifth outing as Bond, had “previously been given a release date of 25 October 2019 in the UK”.

The Daily Telegraph says Boyle’s original appointment was seen as an exciting development for the series, and “there was also a suggestion that he would update Bond for the #Metoo era”.

“Boyle’s hiring feels like thrilling news…[he] is an instinctive, rule-breaking, seat-of-his pants filmmaker,” said Telegraph critic Mark Monahan at the time of Boyle’s appointment.

The nature of the creative differences has not been elaborated on by either party.

News agencies have now begun to speculate as to who might take over from Boyle, with the Daily Mirror reporting that Christopher Nolan, director of Dunkirk, Inception and Interstellar, is the odds-on bookmaker’s favourite at 2/1.

The newspaper reports that Nolan “admitted in February that he’d like to do a Bond film”, saying: “I’d love to make a Bond film at some point and I think those producers – Barbara and Michael – they do a tremendous job and Sam Mendes has done a terrific job the last couple of films, so they don’t particularly need me.

“But I’ve always been inspired by the films and would love to do one some day.”

Others in the running include Yann Demange at 5/1, Denis Villeneuve at 8/1, Skyfall director Sam Mendes at 8/1, Lynne Ramsay at 12/1 and even Daniel Craig at 33/1.