Daniel Craig taps Killing Eve creator to spice up script for troubled Bond 25 movie

If there’s any consolation to the ongoing troubles James Bond seems to be having getting his next movie off the ground, it’s this: At least it looks like he isn’t stopping until he gets it right.

For his final turn as 007, Daniel Craig reportedly has personally drafted the creator of Killing Eve and Fleabag to spice up the Bond 25 script by bringing over some of those acclaimed shows’ offbeat humor and wit.

According to The Guardian, Craig has asked Phoebe Waller-Bridge to spike Bond 25 with some comedic fizz, recruiting her to rework a script that’s already been through one revision from previous Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. In addition to creating and starring in Fleabag and developing Hulu’s Killing Eve for television, Waller-Bridge also stole the show in Solo: A Star Wars Story, voicing Lando’s protest-minded droid L3-37 — who totally didn’t have a thing for her human boss... except that she totally did.

The same report also hints that Bond 25 appears to have a working title — Eclipse — though Shatterhand is another title that's also recently been rumored. Announced four years ago, the movie has endured one director change and a revolving door of writers. Purvis and Wade were brought back to rework the original screenplay from Trainspotting writer John Hodge, who teamed with Danny Boyle before Cary Fukunaga replaced Boyle last year as director on the turbulent project. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) also came on board the writers’ team in February.

Waller-Bridge is the first female writer in the Bond series’ 25-film history since Johanna Harwood, who worked on the screenplays for Dr. No and From Russia With Love. Craig and wife Rachel Weisz, both fans of Fleabag and Killing Eve (what — no love for L3-37?), reportedly tapped Waller-Bridge to join Bond 25 during her recent stay in New York while staging a theatrical production of Fleabag.

Aside from Craig, so far the Bond 25 cast includes regulars Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, and Naomie Harris, as well as Lupita Nyong’o (another Star Wars veteran) in a still-unnamed role. The movie’s release timeline already has been shaken and (not) stirred a few times, but the latest projection has Bond 25 targeting an April 2020 release.