Bond 25 Script Gets a Major Rewrite From Scott Z. Burns

Bond 25 script gets a major rewrite from Scott Z. Burns

Just yesterday it was reported that MGM’s 25th James Bond movie was pushed back from Valentine’s Day 2020 to April 8, 2020. Now The Playlist brings word that ace screenwriter Scott Z. Burns has been hired to do a massive overhaul of the current Bond 25 script by series mainstays Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, which apparently did not satisfy any of the major players involved. Shooting on the sequel is expected to start in April.

Burns was reportedly paid handsomely for four weeks of work on the Bond 25 script, from which he may emerge with the main screenplay credit. He performed a similar function over a decade ago for another big spy sequel, The Bourne Ultimatum, doing a page-1 rewrite on a purportedly unsatisfactory script by Tony Gilroy. He also wrote an unproduced version of spy movie The Man From U.N.C.L.E. for director Steven Soderbergh, with whom he has had a productive relationship (The Informant!, Side Effects, Contagion, The Laundromat). EON Productions has tried to woo Burns to write on past Bond entries but this was the first time the scheduling worked out.

Returning cast members for the next film include Craig, Ralph Fiennes (Skyfall), Lea Seydoux (Spectre), Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Ben Whishaw (Paddington 2).

Bond 25 has seen its share of problems over the past year. It was initially to be directed by Danny Boyle, who exited the project abruptly this summer over creative differences. This delayed production while the studio was forced to search for new directors, before eventually landing on Cary Joji Fukunaga, best known for directing the first season of HBO’s True Detective.

EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios recently reached an agreement with Universal Pictures to partner on the worldwide release of the 25th James Bond film. The superspy’s previous outing, Spectre, opened in U.S. theaters on November 16, 2015. The film earned $200 million domestically and $680.6 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $880.7 million.

The as-yet-untitled Bond 25 is due to hit cinemas on April 8, 2020.