Reason Danny Boyle Quit 'James Bond' Reportedly Revealed

Bond 25 finds itself without a director now that Danny Boyle has departed the project, and now we might have the reason why he left.

Bond 25 was set to start filming in a few weeks, and according to a report from The Telegraph the reason Boyle left had to do with the film's Russian villain. The official statement from the studio described it as "creative differences," but an industry source says it came down to who Boyle wanted for the role.

According to that source, Boyle wanted Tomasz Kot as the main villain in Bond 25. Kot's recent projects include the film Cold War, which is a love story set in 1950s Europe. The 41-year old Polish actor was described by the source as a "left-field" decision in regards to being a Bond villain, and since star Daniel Craig typically has a say in big castings like that, that could have been the source of some friction between the two.

"Craig has a big say in all the casting decisions," the source said. "None of the Bond girls have been chosen without his say so. For example, he chose Eva Green to be the Bond girl when it came to the final four for Casino Royale and that has been the case for all the Bond girls he has worked with."

Craig's name was also listed on the official release that announced Boyle's departure. "It was telling the producers put his [Craig's] name on their release saying that Boyle had been sacked," the source said.

The rift wouldn't have formed over the premise of the film, as both sides seemed to be on board with that idea.

"I have heard that they wanted to bring that Cold War element in but update it to the modern day," the source said. "Danny Boyle was in for that. That wasn't the problem. The problem came in when they were making the final decisions about casting pre-production."

Since filming was set to take place in a few weeks, the Bond team will try and move quickly to find a replacement for Boyle, but it is unknown whether or not they'll continue with Boyle's script. When Boyle came onto the project, there was already a finished script from Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have written many of the Bond films, but Boyle brought in John Hodge to write his own. It will be interesting to see which version they decide to go with.

You can read the official statement from the Bond team below.

"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 statement reads.

Who should come in and replace Boyle on Bond 25? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!