From Slashfilm.com:
Five decades in, James Bond is still going strong. In fact, Skyfall represented a new high point for the franchise in big ways. Critics and fans ranked it among the best 007 adventures of all time when it opened last year, and it smashed the series record in terms of box office gross.Whether there’s any way Bond 24 could possibly top Skyfall remains to be seen, but producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are surely trying. To that end, they’re looking to get one of the key talents back on board. According to a new report, Sam Mendes is likely to return for the Skyfall sequel, though no deal has been signed just yet. Keep reading after the jump.
The good news comes from The Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye. According to one of his sources, there’s a “75%” chance Mendes will commit to Bond 24 in the near future. Wilson and Broccoli have made no secret of their desire to get Mendes in the director’s chair again, but Mendes was initially reluctant due to an early plan to make Bond 24 and Bond 25 as two parts of the same story. Had he signed on, he would have been shackled to the franchise for four years.
That idea’s since been scrapped, though, and 24 and 25 will be standalone installments. Now Mendes is reportedly just waiting on a final script before he inks the deal. John Logan, who co-wrote Skyfall, has gotten as far as a rough outline for the film.
Even once Mendes signs on, he won’t be able to jump on Bond 24 right away. He’s currently tied up directing King Lear at the National Theatre, with the show scheduled to open in January 2014. Pre-production on the new 007 film could get underway by late 2013 or early 2014. As of last spring, the word was that Sony wanted to put Bond 24 in theaters by 2014, but no official release date has been announced as of yet.
Director Sam Mendes Likely to Commit for ‘Bond 24′ | /Film
The Daily Mail isn't the greatest source, but i think they've been accurate at times in the past.
This news bodes very well for Bond 24 IMO, since Mendes probably wouldn't even consider doing it if he didn't think the script (as it currently stands) was at least as good as Skyfall.
Of all the directors that have shot 2 Bond films in a row i believe that only Terence Young has bettered his first attempt when he made FRWL after Dr No, so it's proven a tough challenge so far. But Mendes is more than up to the job - he's the kind of thinking man's filmmaker that will know how improve on the errors and capitalise on the successes.
It's interesting to hear such certainty regarding the rumour of 24 & 25 being one story, which i'd speculate suggests Blofeld's return. However, i think it's too soon for them to attempt the arc of OHMSS, since yet another tragic love dying in Bond's arms would feel too repetitive at this point.
It's a shame Mendes' reason for resisting 24 & 25 as a package is the 4 year time commitment rather than the script, or concept, as it means EON have probably scrapped what might've been a great idea/story in order to keep hold of Mendes. Now we can only fantasise about the epic 2-movie arc that had been drawn up by Logan and may now never see the light of day.
All in all though it's a good day for Bond fans - Mendes will undoubtedly improve his form which is really saying something after the greatness of Skyfall (hopefully he'll be more inclined now to exorcise plot holes and the odd bits of lazy writing (such as M and Finney inconceivably giving away their position to Silva by using a torch!). Mendes claims to collaborate very well with Logan, so ironing out such inconsistencies should be easier without 'other' writers muddying the waters.
Fingers crossed for Deakins and Newman.
