James Bond may have a new agent of change: Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes
Rachel Abramowitz is back on the Hero Complex today with the news that Sam Mendes is poised to become the first Oscar-winning director in the history of the venerable James Bond franchise.
Sam Mendes is engaged in discussions to become the next James Bond maestro, potentially making him the first Oscar winner ever to direct England’s suavest spy.
The “American Beauty” director is actually an old friend of Bond leading man Daniel Craig and introduced the actor to wider American audiences by casting him in the 2002 film “Road to Perdition.” "Bond 23" already has Peter Morgan, Oscar nominee for “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon,” scripting moody character turns for 007, alongside Bond screenwriting stalwarts Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. MGM declined to confirm the report.
Of course, Mendes has a bunch of projects also brewing, including the long-gestating film adaptation of the comic book series “Preacher” and “Middlemarch,” based on the George Eliot novel. And, like every directing assignment in Hollywood, Mendes' participation with Bond is contingent on the final script and the film's production schedule (there is no start date, but some speculation has the movie's release date as early as 2011). And then there's the much bigger question of what happens to Bond when/if corporate overlord MGM gets sold in the next few months.
So in other words, this project still has a long way to go before the martini shot.
-- Rachel Abramowitz
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That could be interesting, and just might class up the series again.
I liked the first Daniel Craig movie, but they've got to stop pretending to be a Jason Bourne film.
Posted by: Dirk | January 05, 2010 at 05:43 PM
Bond films have always been fun, but the last two had emotional depth and interesting politics to go along with the thrills and chills. I hope that trend continues. It's wonderful to see this character deepen within while retaining that outer layer of insouciance that makes him Bond.
Posted by: Patricia | January 05, 2010 at 08:42 PM
I really hope he gets it!
Quantum was a train wreck, they really have to pick the ball back up and score a 3 pointer to make up for it.
Posted by: The.Watcher | January 05, 2010 at 09:20 PM
When Patrick Goldstein takes the role of Sam Mendes' agent/manager (without portfolio) and damns the "cerebral and cultured" man's choice before viewing the finished product, Goldstein is setting himself up as just another industry joke.
Posted by: swf | January 06, 2010 at 07:59 AM
I really liked both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace...but if Mendes directs the next one, it could be the best of the bunch.
Posted by: Steven Gilpin | January 06, 2010 at 11:23 AM