Phoebe Waller-Bridge hired to help rescue James Bond script
Phoebe Waller-Bridge has reportedly been drafted in to salvage the script of the next James Bond film, still known as Bond 25.
The 33-year-old Fleabag creator, writer and actor has been requested by Bond star Daniel Craig to bring her humour and inimitable style to the dwindling screenplay, The Observer reports.
It's claimed that Craig - who lives in New York with Rachel Weisz - is a huge fan of BBC One's Fleabag, which recently concluded for the last time, and Killing Eve, which she wrote and developed.
The actor is said to have met up with Waller-Bridge while she was in New York performing her one-woman stage version of Fleabag, as Craig felt the Bond script needed "polishing" with Waller-Bridge's wit and "offbeat style".
The new Bond has been hit with obstacles since it was announced four years ago. Craig had initially said he'd rather "slash my wrists" than reprise his role as the spy again, but later relented, while Sam Mendes stepped down as director.
Danny Boyle joined the project along with screenwriter John Hodge, but left in August citing "creative differences". True Detective director Cary Joji Fukunaga was then hired as Boyle's replacement.
It was also recently reported that Oscar winner Rami Malek was in "final negotiations" to play the next Bond villain. Lea Seydoux is also confirmed to return as psychologist Madeleine Swann, with Spectre actors Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Ralph Fiennes also reprising their roles.
There has only ever been one female Bond writer Johanna Harwood, who had been secretary to Harry Saltzman, the first Bond producer along with Albert Broccoli. Saltzman brought Harwood in to help with the screenplay of their first film, Dr No, and for the second, From Russia With Love.
The release date for Bond 25 has been pushed back to April 2020.
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