Sam Mendes has revealed that he will be stepping down as James Bond director after the upcoming Spectre.
James Bond fans were excited to learn that Skyfall director Sam Mendes would be returning for Spectre, continuing the franchise’s recent surge of success after the lackluster Quantum of Solace.
But although Daniel Craig still has one more Bond movie in his contract post-Spectre, Sam Mendes will reportedly not return for the 25th movie in the series.
Appearing on a BBC radio program, Mendes said, “I don’t think I could go down that road again. You do have to put everything else on hold.”
Related: New James Bond movie Spectre allegedly sets up two-part story
“I said no to the last one and then ended up doing it, and was pilloried by all my friends,” Mendes explained. “But I do think this is probably it.”
Now we can stop speculating about whether Idris Elba or Daniel Day Lewis will take over from Daniel Craig, and start wondering who might direct Craig’s final 007 adventure.
‘Spectre’ will be bigger than ‘Skyfall’
The crew has just wrapped up filming for Spectre, and in the BBC interview, Mendes was able to offer some tantalizing teasers.
He described Spectre as “bigger” than the already intense Skyfall, saying, “it’s shot in more places – we were in Mexico City and Tangiers and northern Sahara and Rome and the Alps and London. It’s been an enormous undertaking.”
Related: New Spectre TV spot shines a spotlight on Bond’s past
Finally, if you’re one of the James Bond fans anxious for news about the theme song, you might be heartened to know that the song is finished.
Mendes promises that we, “won’t have to wait long” before the artist and title are revealed — and he also calls the song “fantastic,” which just makes us even more excited.
Spectre opens in the U.S. on November 6, and the U.K. premiere has recently been pushed forward to October 24.
The 24th James Bond movie stars Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Christoph Waltz, Ben Whishaw, Andrew Scott, Léa Seydoux, Rory Kinnear and Naomie Harris.
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.