Daniel Craig, Rami Malek can't film new James Bond movie at the same time: report

'Bond 25' casts Rami Malek as villain, Daniel Craig returns as 007

Oscar-winner Rami Malek will play the villain in the still-untitled 25th film in the James Bond franchise. He'll face off with James Bond vet Daniel Craig. This will be Craig’s fifth time playing the role of secret agent 007.

The doomed James Bond film has suffered a fresh setback as stars Daniel Craig and Rami Malek are no longer available to shoot at the same time.

Malek, 38, who will play the movie’s villain, has other filming commitments which will have started by the time Craig, 51, returns to set following the recovery time for an ankle injury.

It has caused a fresh headache for producers, who are struggling to find a date for them to film together.

It comes less than a week after three explosions ripped through the set at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire when a stunt went wrong, leaving one member of staff needing medical treatment.

A Bond insider said: “Filming was supposed to finish in September but the cast and crew have been told it’s been pushed back to late October, possibly early November due to Craig’s injury and the set explosion.

“But they still need to find time for Craig and Malek to film together.

“You can’t have a Bond film where 007 doesn’t come face to face with the villain so it’s a complete nightmare logistically. They are looking at the whole schedule again now and doing everything they can to make it work, but production is going to have to over-run even further now.”

Shooting had to be canceled last month after Craig injured his ankle, while other delays have been caused by a script rewrite and a new director being brought in when Danny Boyle quit.

The as-yet-untitled Bond film, the 25th in the series, is still scheduled to be released on April 3, 2020, having been pushed back from the original date of Oct. 25, 2019.

This article originally appeared in The Sun.