Bond 25

Bond 25 is the working title of the twenty-fifth film in the James Bondseries produced by EON Productions. Like several previous films, Bond 25 will be written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and will feature actor Daniel Craig in his fifth and possibly final performance as James Bond. The film will be released in the United States on February 14, 2020 with traditional earlier releases in the United Kingdom.

Background
Pre-production on Bond 25 has reportedly started with Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli producing the film. EON Productions, MGM and Sony/Columbia Pictures will be producing the film. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be distributing the film on home video on behalf of Metro Goldwyn Mayer as Sony's main studio partner and once had a stake in MGM.

Rumors
After the critical and box office success of Skyfall, and, critical success Spectre Hollywood went into a flurry of rumours for Bond’s next outing Bond 25.

Cast & Characters
Daniel Craig is signed on to star in Bond 25 but the actor has publicly stated that he would step down from the franchise if he felt he would be too old to play the character and he was too exhausted after 8 months of filming Spectre (which included an on-set injury). Many fans have made suggestions about who could take on the role if Craig leaves, the list of names include Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Jackman, Tom Hardy, Damian Lewis, Henry Cavill, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Dornan, Sam Claflin Jamie Bell, Aidan Turner and Theo James.

However, there are rumours that Daniel Craig turned down to play the world's secret agent according to The Daily Mail while his decisions have not been made according to the BBC.

It is also likely that Naomie Harris will reprise her role as Miss Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q and Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner.

Jeffrey Wright could reprise his role as Felix Leiter from Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace.

Christoph Waltz has stated that he would like to reprise his role as Ernst Stavro Blofeld two more times if Daniel Craig returns. If the film continues from Spectre's plot, Lea Seydoux could possibly return for her role as Madeleine Swann and same for Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra and David Bautista as Mr. Hinx.

Crew
A popular news story, started by the blog Deadline, reports the Skyfall writer John Logan has been commissioned by Wilson & Broccoli to pen Spectre and Bond 25 as a two-parter. Months later, this rumor was repudiated but no official announcement either way has been made. Logan did pen the script for Spectre and may be considered a front-runner for hemming the Bond 25 script.

Release
The film will likely be released in October or November, given the history of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. In July of 2016 Barbara Broccoli mentioned Bond 25 would likely release in 2018. On June 9th 2017, the film was said to be released in 2019 if shooting begins next year. Speculation ended on July 24th 2017 with an official announcement that Bond 25's intended US release date would be November 8th 2019 with traditional earlier releases in the UK etc.

Distribution
As of June 2nd, Sony Pictures could lose the distribution rights to the Bond films. If such an event occurs, distribution would be handed over to another studio after the release of Spectre; including Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Universal Pictures.

According to a blog website, it was reported that Disney; best known for being the media empire for over 90 years; could handle distribution rights to the James Bond films due to the box office success of Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Force Awakens. however, it depends on how the deal works in order to out-bid Warner Bros and others. A new report from Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson; it is getting closer that the company itself should buy the Bond franchise after rumours spread over the past few months but this time to keep it away for the competition to get one step further ahead.

It was originally reported in June 2015 that Warner Bros. may be the new distributor of the James Bond franchise. However, perhaps this will not work out following the disappointed box office dropped of Batman V. Superman: Dawn for Justice.