Though he had directed the highest-grossing James Bond film of all time, director Sam Mendes previously passed on returning for the follow-up movie, the upcoming Spectre. Now with the release for the 24th film in the series quickly approaching, Mendes says he won’t be back for another go at 007.
“I said no to the last one and then ended up doing it, and was pilloried by all my friends,” Mendes tells the BBC. “But I do think this is probably it…I don’t think I could go down that road again. You do have to put everything else on hold.”
Speaking about the scope of the upcoming film, Mendes also offered a tease for fans:
“This is a bigger movie than Skyfall. 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.”
The director also confirmed that the theme song for the film has already been recorded and that it will be officially revealed soon.
“I can say that the song’s been recorded and it’s fantastic and I’m very excited about it,” he said. “You won’t have to wait long.”
Spectre stars Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Munich), Ben Wishaw (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I’m Not There), Naomie Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, 28 Weeks Later), Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Invisible Woman), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds), Monica Bellucci (Irreversible, Malena), David Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Man with the Iron Fists), Léa Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds, Blue is the Warmest Color), Stephanie Sigman (Miss Bala, Pioneer), Andrew Scott (Locke, “Sherlock”) and Rory Kinnear (Quantum of Solace, The Imitation Game).
In the movie, a cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion), as Bond fans know, is a fictional global terrorist organization featured in Ian Fleming’s novels, as well as the films and video games based on those novels. The organization was led by the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, although the cast is definitely playing it coy about whether or not Blofeld will actually appear in the new film.
Spectre, written by John Logan and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, hits theaters and IMAX on November 6, 2015.
