Who Will Direct The James Bond Movie After SPECTRE?

At the very least, we know at least one person who won’t be directing it.

Sam Mendes, director of the critical darling Skyfall and the upcoming follow up SPECTRE, has recently gone on record saying that the 24th Bond film will be his last.

How do we know Mendes will not be returning?

In an interview with BBC Radio, Mendes talked about how exhaustive an undertaking a major motion picture like a Bond film can be. SPECTRE in particular seems even bigger than its predecessor:

“I said no to the last one and then ended up doing it, and it was pilloried by all my friends. But I do think this is probably it. It feels almost, even though we’ve just finished shooting it, like one big experience and it was a fantastic life-changing thing.

I don’t think I could go down that road again. You do have to put everything else on hold, [it] really is more a lifestyle choice than a job… 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.”

Mendes also confirmed that the theme song is finished, but won’t tell who composed the track. We’ll probably hear it around October, but we’re already hearing rumors about who will be singing it.

So, if Mendes isn’t coming back than who could replace him?

It’s impossible to say for certain, but the Bond producers really upped the caliber of talent associated with Bond after Oscar winner Sam Mendes. Before, Bond films were seen as classier action films… but Skyfall was a very stylistically distinguished film. Given that it grossed more than a billion dollars at the box office, that branding worked very well for the Bond team and makes sense they’d want it to continue.

As a result, expect them to go for Oscar-level talent who knows how to tackle an action sequence but is defined by their capability to tell an excellent story.

Are any names coming to mind?

One in particular could fit the bill: The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum. He already is lined up to direct Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, so depending on when that production comes to a close he may be open for the next Bond film. However, it really comes down to two things: interest and scheduling.

Still, The Imitation Game showed that Tyldum could execute a character based story steeped in espionage, which is something the Daniel Craig Bond films are very much about. If the trailer for SPECTRE is any indication, that film is pushing the approach even further.

When will we hear about the director for Bond 25?

After SPECTRE opens, most likely. At the extreme earliest, we’ll hear about it around the time the film opens, but that is very unlikely.