Script doctor reworking Bond 25 prior to shooting

After the announcement that Bond 25 will be delayed again it has now emerged that Eon have hired a script doctor prior to shooting.

Bond 25 logo

When I first heard the announcement that Bond 25 had been delayed to 8th April 2020 I wasn’t completely surprised after the revelation that shooting wouldn’t now kick of until April. To me a later start meant that the producers and director weren’t happy with progress, which almost certainly means the script.

Later though it was pointed out that the reason was rather simpler. The release of Fast and Furious 9 had been delayed by a month which meant there was a vacant slot for the next Bond film in April instead. The date is a few days before the Easter weekend and should, so the theory goes, be better than a Valentine’s Day release.

But then later on Saturday it was revealed by The Playlist that Scott Z Burns, “one of the top emergency rescue script doctors in Hollywood” is now working on “a script that no one is entirely happy with”. According to the article he’s previously done uncredited work on Ocean’s 12 and Rogue One. He also wrote The Bourne Ultimatum and produced An Inconvenient Truth. According to The Playlist:

The filmmaker is now in London and will be spending at least 4 weeks rewriting the ‘Bond 25’ script for what I’m told is a king’s ransom sum. Burns’ reputation precedes him; producers have approached him in the past to punch up ‘Bond’ scripts, but the timing has never worked out.

So, if this is all true what does it mean?

While some fans are worried the film won’t be up to scratch, it could mean exactly the opposite. Taking some extra time now to get the script right before the cameras start rolling means they start out on a better foot than they would otherwise.

We’ll know in April 2020.

Source: The Playlist

David Leigh founded The James Bond Dossier in 2002. A fan of 007 since the age of 8, he is also author of The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond. You can order a copy here if you don't own it already.

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