Cary Joji Fukunaga has been announced as the director of the untitled 25th Bond film.
He replaces Danny Boyle, who departed from the project following “creative differences” with the franchise’s producers. The film's release date has also been pushed back to 14 February 2020, having originally been set for October 2019.
A tweet posted to the official James Bond account reads: “Michael G Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig announced today that Bond 25 will begin filming at Pinewood Studios on 4 March 2019 under the helm of director Cary Joji Fukunaga, with a worldwide release date of 14 February 2020.”
Fukunaga is best known for directing and executive producing the first season of HBO’s True Detective, as well as directing the critically acclaimed films Jane Eyre (2011) and Idris Elba-starring Beasts of No Nation (2015).
His latest release is the miniseries Maniac, a darkly comedic take on the pharmaceutical industry, starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, which debuts on Netflix on 21 September.
It has previously been reported that Boyle left the project after disagreeing with Daniel Craig – the film’s star, as well as an executive producer – over the casting of Cold War actor Tomasz Kot as the film’s lead villain.
Wonder Woman actor Saïd Taghmaoui later claimed that he had been cast by Boyle in the villain role; it's unknown whether Kot or Taghmaoui will still be in contention now that Fukunaga is on board.
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