Asked about returning to direct another Bond after the massive success of "Skyfall," Sam Mendes played it cool. "Do I want to do another one? I'm a shadow of my former self [laughs]. No, I don't know. I felt like everything I wanted to do with a Bond movie, I put into this film," he said last month. "So I would have to be convinced that I could do something that I loved and cared about as much if I was to do it again. I think the great risk of repeating oneself is that one doesn't have the great store of ideas that you have when you first tackle a subject." But could he be kicking the tires on it?
While it was already known once "Skyfall" writer John Logan came on board to write Bond 24 and Bond 25, today franchise standbys, writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (who penned "The World Is Not Enough," "Die Another Day," "Casino Royale," "Quantum Of Solace," and "Skyfall") officially confirmed at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival that they had exited the series. But they offered up an interesting nugget in saying goodbye to the series.
“We’re very happy to have done five Bond movies, I think we’ve gotten it to a good place," Wade said. "I know that John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with a plot for another one, which takes the pressure off because these films take up a lot of time.”
Wait, what? This seems to be the first we've heard of Mendes being involved in the followup in any capacity, and it could be nothing more than making sure the story carries over the next entry sensibly, or maybe that he's helping to develop it to see if he wants to return. Certainly, producers would love to have the guy back who helped make "Skyfall" the most successful entry in the franchise. That said, Mendes is tied up with the stage production of "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" for much of next year, which would likely take him out of the running if the people behind Bond are eager to land on a fall 2014 release date. That said, if pushing the schedule back in order to accomodate Mendes is what needs to be done, we could see them being flexible.
Certainly, Mendes and Logan are getting along swimmingly — they are also working on a vampire hunting TV series together — and maybe the director isn't quite finished with 007. As usual, story details are under wraps, but maybe Bond 24 will finally explain what the hell happened with that hard drive. Either way, Bond 24 just got a bit more interesting.
