By Sam Mendes took two shots at directing James Bond films with 2012’s “Skyfall” and 2015’s “Spectre”. The result was the two highest-grossing 007 films to date.
While reviews for “Spectre” were more mixed, “Skyfall” scored excellent reviews including a 92% (8/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, became the first Bond film to cross $1 billion at the global box-office, and is seen as a prime example of how good a film shot digitally can look (with a lot of help from DOP Roger Deakins).
Mendes exited after “Spectre,” with Cary Fukunaga taking over for “No Time to Die”. Speaking with Inverse recently, Mendes says he doesn’t think he will be returning to the franchise:
“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.”
He goes on to say the franchise’s producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, are more interested in hiring a younger director as they aren’t after auteurs set in their ways:
“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.”
Mendes’ time is already quite busy right now as he has his four-film “The Beatles” movies keeping him occupied through until 2028.
The next Bond film currently no script, no title, no star, no setting, no source material selected and no star presently. Broccoli is busy working with former Bond star Daniel Craig on a new film adaptation of the 2016 Iraq war-set off-Broadway stage take on Shakespeare’s “Othello” that starred Craig as Iago and David Oyelowo as Othello.
All 25 Bond films are now available on Amazon Prime Video.
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