Sam Mendes, the respectable Oscar-winner behind the likes of American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, is reportedly “in negotiations” to direct Bond 23, the latest instalment in the 007 franchise.
A swift review of the Mendes back catalogue raises some tantalising prospects. Will Bond suffer a tragicomic mid-life crisis in suburbia, or perhaps steer his Aston Martin off on a novelty road trip in search of the perfect place to raise a family? Or will he simply throw punches, defuse nuclear devices and run amok in a tuxedo, the same as it ever was?
We shall have to wait and see. Production is being fast-tracked and could begin as early as June with an eye toward a 2011 release.
Daniel Craig will return to play 007 for a third time.
The MGM film will be Mendes’ first action-heavy project, though his 2005 effort Jarhead was set amid US war in Kuwait. Mendes’ last directorial effort, the road-trip drama / comedy Away We Go, grossed $10 million in the US last summer, while the previous Bond film, 2008’s Quantum of Solace, directed by Marc Forster grossed $586 million worldwide.
Reuters
