Home Entertainment SPECTRE will be Sam Mendes' last James Bond movie

SPECTRE will be Sam Mendes' last James Bond movie

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When it comes to personal tastes, we’re a very diverse group over here at The Movies. For instance, Darryn enjoyed Batman & Robin and the rest of us want him institutionalized. Another, more recent difference of opinion comes for Skyfall. While most of us agree with the general consensus that James Bond’s last cinematic adventure was a thrilling affair, James finds it incredibly overrated. Irrespective of which side of that divide you find yourself on though, there’s no denying that the record breaking Skyfall was the biggest Bond movie ever.

And with all that commercial success, it made sense that director Sam Mendes would return for its follow-up, Spectre, even thought it was very touch-and-go for a while there as to whether he would actually helm another film in the franchise. But it looks like Mendes sophomore excursion into the world of 007 is going to be his last. Speaking to BBC, Mendes revealed that this time he was really done, as the pressures of a Bond movie is just too much.

“I said no to the last one and then ended up doing it, and was pilloried by all my friends. 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… It feels almost, even though we’ve just finished shooting it, like one big experience and it was a fantastic life-changing thing,” he said. But he added he did not think he could go through it again. It really is more a lifestyle choice than a job… [shooting a Bond movie is] pretty much all encompassing.”

“And you really do feel it. 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.”

At one point, when it seemed that Mendes was not going to return to the franchise, it was cited that his love of theatre – specifically his planned productions of King Lear and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – was what would keep him away. That apparently hasn’t changed, as Mendes will probably head back to the theatre again now.

“I’m happiest rehearsing a play or editing a movie, and when I’ve finished editing a movie I generally want to be back in a theatre environment again. It feels like home, it feels controllable after the chaos of a movie set. But it won’t be long before I want to do another film, and I’m very fortunate to be able to go back and forth between the two.”

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One of those aforementioned records that Skyfall ended up breaking was being the first Bond film to have it’s theme song win an Oscar, as British songstress Adele delivered arguably the best piece of music of the Daniel Craig era and one of the best Bond theme songs overall. This high bar has led to a lot of speculation as to who will be singing Spectre’s theme song – rumours pegged Grammy Award winner Sam Smith at one stage – and what it would sound like. Turns out we may get some answers soon, as the song is done.

“I can say that the song’s been recorded and it’s fantastic and I’m very excited about it. You won’t have to wait long.”

Spectre sees Daniel Craig return as the world’s most famous secret agent, and this time out he will be joined by Ben Wishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as M, Christoph Waltz as the villainous Oberhauser, Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, David Bautista as new henchman Mr. Hinx, Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, and Stephanie Sigman as Estrella. Spectre is scheduled for release in its native UK on October 26, while the rest of the world will have to wait another two weeks or so to November 6, 2015 to see it.

Here’s the latest trailer and synopsis:

A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. 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.

Last Updated: July 21, 2015

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