By Ben Travis | Posted 22 Feb 2018

After months of near-silence, the rumour mill on the next James Bond film has cranked into overdrive over the past few days. First came Christopher Nolan confirming he wouldn't direct Bond 25 on Desert Island Discs. Then came reports that Danny Boyle could be at the head of MGM’s list of possible directors. And now comes more news that makes Boyle on Bond look even more possible.

John Hodge is said to be working on a Bond 25 script right now — and he’s famously one of Boyle’s long-standing collaborators. Hodge’s previous screenplays include Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach, Trance, and most recently T2 Trainspotting. That’s a lot of Danny Boyle films.

According to Deadline, MGM already has one possible script from Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, while Boyle and Hodge’s Bond 25 idea seems to be a totally separate vision. The report says that if Hodge’s script impresses MGM and the producers enough, that could be the version of the film that gets made, likely with Boyle at the helm. If Hodge’s screenplay isn’t chosen, another director will step in to film Purvis and Wade’s version.

This is all insider scuttlebutt for now — but with Daniel Craig’s (most likely) final Bond film currently pencilled in for release before the end of 2019, expect more concrete announcements in the not-so-distant future.

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