James Bonddirector Sam Mendes has spoken about his potential future with the franchise. Before joining the long-running spy series adapted from the works of novelist Ian Fleming, Mendes was best known as the Oscar-winning director of 1999’sAmerican Beauty, the feature that also won Best Picture at the 2000 Academy Awards ceremony. His firstBondfeature was the 2012 Daniel Craig era outingSkyfall. He then returned to helm 2015’sSpectre. However, the final Craig movie, 2021’sNo Time to Die, was helmed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, and theupcomingJames Bond 26has no attached director.
Inverserecently interviewed Mendes while the filmmaker was promoting the HBO seriesThe Franchise, on which he is an executive producer. When asked if he would consider returning for anotherJames Bondmovie, he referenced the 1983 Bond movieNever Say Never Againby saying “never say never,” thoughhe did express doubt about the prospect. He says that he appreciated the opportunity to expand his creativity to a larger scale, but he thinks the producers are looking for “slightly more malleable people who are earlier in their career.” Read his full quote below:
Never say never, to quote the man, but I would doubt it. It was very good for me at that moment in my life. I felt like it shot me out of some old habits. It made me think on a bigger scale. It made me use different parts of my brain. You have to have a lot of energy. Bond still exists in the real world. I had maybe three or four days of green screen shooting on that movie, and it felt like three or four months. There’s something so difficult and airless about that environment. You’ve got nothing to react to, you’re not standing in the real world. [But] they want slightly more malleable people who are earlier in their career, who perhaps are going to use it as a stepping stone, and who are more controllable by the studio.
What Sam Mendes’ Comments Mean For James Bond
A New Director Will Most Likely Be Brought In
In the early days of the franchise, directors would recur nearly as often as theJames Bond actors, even overlapping across multiple eras. For instance, John Glen directed five movies in a row, spanning the Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton eras. The other directors to helm titles in multiple eras were Guy Hamilton (Sean Connery and Roger Moore) and Lewis Gilbert (also Sean Connery and Roger Moore). However,since the end of Glen’s run with 1989’sLicence to Kill, only Mendes has directed more than one Bond featureand no director has helmed installments starring two different actors.
In addition toLicence to Kill, John Glen helmed 1981’sFor Your Eyes Only, 1983’sOctopussy, 1985’sA View to a Kill, and 1987’sThe Living Daylights.
This modern precedent could indicate that the current shepherds of theJames Bondmoviesare indeedlooking for a fresh approach as they prepare the new movie, as Mendes suggests in his comments. However, it remains to be seen how the cast and crew come together as the movie develops. Once the official casting announcement has been made, it seems likely that the remaining key figures will be put into place relatively quickly afterward as the new installment properly ramps up pre-production.
Our Take On Sam Mendes' James Bond Return Comments
The Director Seems To Have Moved On
It could be gratifying to see the director return to theJames Bondmovies, especially considering the fact thatSkyfallremains one of the most well-regarded installments and is currently the fifth highest-ranked movie on Rotten Tomatoes with a 92% score. However,it seems that Mendes has fully moved on from the franchise, applying the lessons he learned about a grander scale of filmmaking elsewhere, such as his ambitious, Oscar-winning war epic1917.
Source:Inverse
James Bond
The James Bond franchise follows the adventures of British secret agent 007 as he combats global threats. With a license to kill, Bond faces off against various villains and criminal organizations, employing high-tech gadgets, espionage, and charm. The series spans multiple films, featuring exotic locations, thrilling action sequences, and memorable characters. Bond’s mission to protect the world and uphold justice remains central, making the franchise an enduring icon in the spy genre.
