Danny Boyle and Daniel Craig have been confirmed for the next James Bond film, which will be released in October 2019.

Danny Boyle

Danny Boyle

Universal Pictures have won the international distribution rights to the 25th movie about the suave spy - who will be played by Craig for a fifth time - with Boyle set to direct the hotly-anticipated motion picture, which will drop in the UK first on October 25, 2019.

EON Productions' Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli told Deadline: "We are delighted to announce that the exceptionally talented Danny Boyle will be directing Daniel Craig in his fifth outing as James Bond in the 25th instalment of the franchise.

"We will begin shooting Bond 25 at Pinewood Studios in December with our partners at MGM and thrilled that Universal will be our international distributor."

Production on the movie, which will land in the US on November 8, 2019, is due to begin on December 3.

Kevin Ulrich, chairman of the board of directors at MGM - who will handle domestic distribution with Annapurna - said: "Under the leadership of Michael and Barbara, we couldn't be more thrilled than to bring the next 007 adventure to the big screen uniting the incomparable Daniel Craig with the extraordinary vision of Danny Boyle."

Jon Glickman, group president at MGM, who will also handle the digital and worldwide television distribution rights, added: "It has been 16 years since 'Die Another Day' was distributed by MGM and it's incredibly gratifying to be releasing this film alongside the powerhouse team at Universal."

In March, Boyle teased he was working on the Bond 25 script.

He said: "We are working on a script right now. And it all depends on that really.

"I am working on a Richard Curtis script at the moment. We hope to start shooting that in six or seven weeks.

"Then Bond would be right at the end of the year. But we are working on them both right now."

Ben Whishaw - who plays Q in the franchise - recently admitted he was delighted to hear Boyle had signed up to helm the next movie.

Speaking to BANG Showbiz, Ben explained: "I just think it's really exciting to have Danny Boyle on board for Bond. I was thrilled when I read that he was going to be doing it, I can't think of a better or more exciting fit for Daniel [Craig] and the direction he's taken the character of Bond.

"I'm just really excited to work with him, I've been such a big fan. It seems weird to talk about it because I've not had a conversation with him but it's exciting."

Bond 25 is set to be Craig's final outing as secret agent 007.

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