Sam Mendes, director of the fabulously successful Skyfall, previously said he wouldn’t return for another go at the Bond franchise. Speculation then turned to other well-regarded directors. Now Mendes’ intentions appear to have changed, according to Mike Fleming, Jr., writing for Deadline:
”While Mendes looked doubtful, a bunch of names have been floated in the press, from Ang Lee to Nicolas Winding Refn and Christopher Nolan. I’m not sure there is much validity to any of them, but now it is a moot point, because Mendes will be the director of the next Bond.”
(Via TheAVClub.)
I wasn’t a fan of Mendes’ Skyfall at its debut, but it grew on me with a second viewing.
Much of what I came to like about Skyfall involves its artful cinematography and the patient direction of what is a not-very-thoughtful action story. The room-of-mirrors assassination scene in a Shanghai high-rise somewhat makes up for the less tasteful and thoroughly unnecessary plot turns (haven’t we gotten beyond Bond-as-libidinous-spy?), and the early train scene ending in Bond’s fall (in two senses) puts down a marker for the questionable villain-willingly-caught-only-to-escape device later in the film. Though not as tightly knit as Casino Royale, it’s as close to introspective as (movie character) Bond gets, and that makes it interesting. Hopefully Skyfall’s craftiness will be carried on to the next film.
Perhaps just as interesting as Mendes’ return is the hiring of John Logan to write the next two Bond scripts. Logan previously co-wrote and wrote Gladiator and The Aviator, both detailed character portraits as much as straightforward storytelling. His rumored Bond twist: a two-film story arc.
While Quantum of Solace, the second Bond film to star Daniel Craig, continued the then-unnamed Quantum mythology from Casino Royale, the two films told different stories. A two-film arc sets up the possibility of a cliffhanger ending to the first, itself an unsatisfying plot turn, necessitating seeing both to enjoy a single story. I’d much prefer the former method that tied up the first narrative before a thread of it was pulled into the second.
Regardless, the next two Bond outings are shaping up nicely. There’s an interesting bit of trivia in the Bond 24 IMDB entry about them debuting back-to-back over two years, though. Looks like we’ll be waiting until 2016 for the first. Hard to believe it’ll be that long.
A Random Stroll 