Sad news for all you fans of Craig’s tenure as the superspy – no, the big guy isn’t turning in the tux, don’t panic – two of the screenwriters that made those films so great are bidding farewell to the franchise. Neal Purvis & Robert Wade knocked it out of the park with SKYFALL, allowing them to go out on a high. Commendable; it must have been bloody tempting to jump ship after the lows of QUANTUM OF SOLACE. Or THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH. Or DIE ANOTHER DAY. (Actually… that only makes two out of five! Maybe this should be cause for celebration…)

Anyway, buried in the press release issued to announce their departure from the series was an interesting little factoid about the next movie…

“I know that John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with a plot for another one, which takes the pressure off because these films take up a lot of time.”

So has Mendes been persuaded to stay with the franchise after all?

In previous interviews the AMERICAN BEAUTY director had somewhat of a ‘one-and-done’ mentality when questioned about the possibility of his returning to helm another. Of course that was before SKYFALL went on to become the most profitable James Bond flick EVER. Has MGM dug deep to persuade him to return? We shall see…

Would you be happy for Mendes to direct BOND 24? Or would you prefer new blood? Share your comments below or on Twitter @STARBURST_MAG

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