Our wish has been granted. Despite reportedly saying last month that he was 75% on board with returning to the James Bond franchise after his mega-hit Skyfall, Sam Mendes has confirmed his next film will not be Bond 24. We said we’d much rather have Sam Mendes take on an original project, and while we don’t know what it’ll be, it won’t have anything to do with 007.
Empire confirmed the news with out a quote from Mendes, saying, “It has been a very difficult decision not to accept Michael and Barbara’s very generous offer to direct the next Bond movie. Directing Skyfall was one of the best experiences of my professional life, but I have theatre and other commitments, including productions of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and King Lear, that need my complete focus over the next year and beyond.”
We previously got word that Mendes was hesitant to commit to another film due to the original plan of having John Logan scripting back-to-back, connected projects. If producers went that route it would have taken up the next four years of Mendes’ career, but with those plans scrapped, giving way to a completely stand-alone film, the director was reconsidering, but he still won’t be returning.
It looks like with his busy theater commitments it may be well over a year before we even see another film from him, but he doesn’t rule out eventually coming back to the franchise. He said, “I feel very honoured to have been part of the Bond family and very much hope I have a chance to work with them again sometime in the future”. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have also chimed in, saying, “We thoroughly enjoyed working with Sam, he directed our most successful Bond movie ever, Skyfall. We would have loved to have made the next film with him but completely respect his decision to focus on other projects and hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with him again.” Let the director search begin.
Who would you like to see direct Bond 24?