Purvis and Wade Screenwriting Team to Return for Latest James Bond Picture

While the search for a new James Bond continues apace (in some luxury suite, Emily Blunt looks listlessly at her cell phone and contemplates getting a new agent), the franchise has begun to assemble some of the other pieces of its next installment. The screenwriting team of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade has been an instrumental part of the espionage series over the last couple decades, co-authoring the scripts for Brosnan-era duds (The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day) as well as the resurgent Craig-era hits (Casino Royale, Skyfall, Spectre). And a new report from Variety indicates that the two scribes won’t get out of the James Bond business any time soon.

It may not have a plot, a confirmed star, or even a title, but James Bond 25 now has writers in the Purvis-Wade brain trust. It’s a pretty safe move for producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, with Purvis and Wade having already earned the favor of fans for their mature take on a Bond in the midst of a midlife crisis. But it was far from a sure thing; though Purvis and Wade ultimately earned acclaim for their work on Skyfall, they were initially shelved while John Logan took the assignment, and only brought in after the first draft was completed.

The Variety item cites a quote from an interview with Purvis and Wade in The Telegraph last month, in which they explain how the changing face of Britain, what with all the Brexiting, has complicated the task of writing Bond.

I’m just not sure how you would go about writing a James Bond film now. Each time, you’ve got to say something about Bond’s place in the world, which is Britain’s place in the world. But things are moving so quickly now, that becomes tricky. With people like Trump, the Bond villain has become a reality. So when they do another one, it will be interesting to see how they deal with the fact that the world has become a fantasy.

Heh, even the dudes who invent Bond villains think that Trump is a Bond villain. At any rate, the Bond franchise will remain in experienced hands for the big 2-5. All early signs are positive, at least so far.