Sam Mendes 'Bond 24': 'Skyfall' Director Confirms His Return for 007 Film in 2015 [VIDEO]
Skyfall director Sam Mendes has signed on to do the next 007 film, tentatively titled Bond 24.
"I am very pleased that by giving me the time I need to honour all my theatre commitments, the producers have made it possible for me to direct Bond 24," Mendes said in an official statement Wednesday. "I very much look forward to taking up the reins again, and to working with Daniel Craig [James Bond], [producer] Michael G. Wilson and [producer] Barbara Broccoli for a second time."
Skyfall was the 23rd film in the James Bond film franchise and is the first to make over $1 billion at the box office worldwide. It was the first Bond film for Mendes, who won an Academy Award for directing the 1999 film American Beauty. MGM CEO Gary Barber expressed his excitement over Mendes directing the next Bond film to similar success.
"We are thrilled to reunite the extraordinary talents of director Sam Mendes with our star Daniel Craig for the next great Bond adventure," Barber said in a statement. "As evidenced by the phenomenal success of our last collaboration with EON Productions and Sony, the incredible legacy of this 51-year-old franchise continues to amaze."
Mendes had previously admitted that he would be too busy with theater productions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and King Lear to direct Bond 24. He initially admitted that he wasn't interested in working with the same characters.
"Was I willing to go straight back into a room with a writer and start work on the same set of characters and the same scenarios as I've been working on for the last three years? No," he said in May. "The idea made me feel physically ill."
Not much is known about plot details for Bond 24, though Penelope Cruz is in the running to be the next "Bond girl." Enstars previously reported that producers were negotiating with the actress to get her on board.
Bond 24 is scheduled to be released in theaters in 2015.
Watch Mendes discussing Skyfall in 2012:
