Tag: Sam Mendes (1-9 of 9)

Apr 3 2013 05:12 PM ET

Danny Boyle says no to James Bond: 'I'm not the right guy' to direct

by
Tags: , , , , , News
DANNY-BOYLE.jpg

Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Sam Mendes was a contrarian choice in many ways to direct Skyfall, but the result was the biggest box-office hit in the 50-year history of the James Bond franchise. Certainly, he was welcome to return for a follow-up, but when he begged-off to spend more time in the theater, speculating who will direct the next 007 installment became one of Hollywood’s best parlor games.

Well, cross Danny Boyle off the list. The Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire who oversaw a Bond production of sorts — the London Olympics opening ceremonies, which featured a Bond sendup with Daniel Craig and the Queen — told the Hollywood Reporter he’s not really interested. “I’m not really the guy for those movies,” he said, during promotion of his new thriller, Trance. “What we do, right, is we use genre — you take a genre, like [Trance] has got a few genres running in it, you use a genre to try and get you in the mainstream. It’s a vehicle to boost you into the mainstream. And then you f— with the genre. You twist it and change it and move it around. You can’t do it on those big movies. You genuflect in front of them. Too much money, too expectation. It’s the faith of the fans, it’s all that. You’ve got to be very careful. It’s very tempting of course — I love the movies, I love the books, but I’m not the right guy for those.” READ FULL STORY »

Mar 6 2013 12:53 PM ET

Sam Mendes won't direct next James Bond movie

by
Tags: , , ,
skyfall-02

Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

Despite Skyfall being the most commercially successful James Bond movie ever, director Sam Mendes won’t be returning for Bond’s next go-round.

Mendes’ rep confirmed the director’s statement in Empire magazine, which explains that he will not direct James Bond’s 24th adventure.

“It has been a very difficult decision not to accept Michael [G. Wilson] and Barbara [Broccoli]’s very generous offer to direct the next Bond movie,” Mendes said. “Directing Skyfall was one of the best experiences of my professional life, but I have theatre and other commitments, including productions of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and King Lear, that need my complete focus over the next year and beyond.” READ FULL STORY »

Nov 29 2012 11:00 AM ET

Best of 2012 (Behind the Scenes): When Daniel Craig's Bond meets Javier Bardem's Silva...

by
Tags: , , , , , , News
skyfall-daniel-craig-javier-bardem.jpg

Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

Bond villains have always flirted with homoeroticism. You could say it’s as much a part of of the franchise’s 50-year-old formula as all of the girls, gadgets, and glamor. Whether it’s Goldfinger aiming his laser at 007′s royal jewels, the coy cat-in-his-lap quips of Blofeld, or even Lotte Lenya’s butch villainess Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love, the Bond films have subtly toyed with a sexual subtext. But in the latest Bond installment, Skyfall, Javier Bardem pushes the gay envelope farther than it’s ever been pushed before. Here, in an article originally published before the film hit theaters, Bardem, director Sam Mendes, and Daniel Craig talk about the scene that had everyone talking — and laughing. For more stories behind this year’s top TV and movie moments, click here for EW.com’s Best of 2012: Behind the Scenes coverage.

The Spanish actor dons a blonde wig as the latest 007 nemesis, Silva — a cyberterrorist who has a complicated history with Bond’s boss at MI6, M (Judi Dench). And his first encounter with Daniel Craig’s license-to-kill agent is sure to get fans squirming in their seats. Which, according to Bardem, was exactly the point.

Asked if his character has an interest in Bond beyond just world domination, Bardem admits, “You could read it that way. That option was there in the script. The word that [director Sam Mendes] kept using was ‘uncomfortableness’. Beyond the sexuality, he wanted it to feel like you don’t know if Silva’s joking or not.”

READ FULL STORY »

Oct 16 2012 08:42 PM ET

Is Javier Bardem playing the first gay Bond villain in 'Skyfall'? Bardem and director Sam Mendes weigh in

by
Tags: , , , , , , , , News
skyfall-daniel-craig-javier-bardem.jpg

Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

Bond villains have always flirted with homoeroticism. You could say it’s as much a part of of the franchise’s 50-year-old formula as all of the girls, gadgets, and glamor. Whether it’s Goldfinger aiming his laser at 007′s royal jewels, the coy cat-in-his-lap quips of Blofeld, or even Lotte Lenya’s butch villainess Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love, the Bond films have subtly toyed with a sexual subtext. But in the latest Bond installment, Skyfall, Javier Bardem pushes the gay envelope farther than it’s ever been pushed before.

The Spanish actor dons a blonde wig as the latest 007 nemesis, Silva — a cyberterrorist who has a complicated history with Bond’s boss at MI6, M (Judi Dench). And his first encounter with Daniel Craig’s license-to-kill agent is sure to get fans squirming in their seats. Which, according to Bardem, was exactly the point.

Asked if his character has an interest in Bond beyond just world domination, Bardem admits, “You could read it that way. That option was there in the script. The word that [director Sam Mendes] kept using was ‘uncomfortableness’. Beyond the sexuality, he wanted it to feel like you don’t know if Silva’s joking or not.”

READ FULL STORY »

Aug 17 2012 03:11 PM ET

'Skyfall' video blog: Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes talk London

by
Tags: , , , , ,
skyfall-04

Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

The London love just keeps rolling in.

Fresh off a two-week stint showing a record TV audience all that it had to offer while playing host to the Olympics, “The Big Smoke” (No, I did not know that was a nickname for London as of five minutes ago) turns its attention to yet another major spectacle: the upcoming release of the newest Bond film, Skyfall.

The Skyfall camp has been tight lipped as far as plot details for much of the production period, with one of the only certainties in the cloud of mystery being that London will be welcoming home its favorite secret-agent son for the 23rd installment of the franchise.

Check out a behind-the-scenes clip below to watch director Sam Mendes and star Daniel Craig — both native sons themselves — talking rather candidly about some of the challenges that shooting in London presented, as well as their general excitement in bringing Bond back to his roots.

READ FULL STORY »

May 21 2012 05:21 AM ET

'Skyfall' teaser trailer: 'Murder?' asks a shrink. 'Employment,' responds James Bond

by
Tags: , , , ,

Will M die? Will Adele be doing the title song? And what part exactly is Ralph Fiennes playing in the 23rd James Bond movie?

The first teaser trailer for Skyfall, due in theaters Nov. 19, answered none of these hotly-rumored questions. We still have no idea what Sam Mendes’ movie will be about. But the trailer does offer a tantalizing glimpse of what’s ahead. At one point in Skyfall, for instance, Bond will apparently play word association games with a prison psychiatrist. “Murder?” the doctor asks. “Employment,” 007 replies. Welcome back, Mr. Bond. Check out the trailer below:  READ FULL STORY »

Mar 29 2012 11:28 AM ET

'Skyfall' featurettes: Meet the new Bond girls! -- VIDEO

by
Tags: , , , News

We’ve already gotten a sneak peek of Skyfall‘s villainous Silva (Javier Bardem), but what is a James Bond movie without a little leg? The movie just released two new featurettes introducing the latest batch of beauties: Bérénice Marlohe plays Sévérine and warns that her character “has a dark side.” Meanwhile, Naomie Harris comes out with a bang — literally. As field agent Eve, she wields a variety of lethal weapons and “sees herself as Bond’s equal.” Learn more about the actresses stepping into Skyfall below. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 22 2012 11:46 AM ET

New James Bond video: Sam Mendes talks 'Skyfall'

by
Tags: ,

Sam Mendes was always an intriguing choice to direct the new James Bond movie. For one thing, the closest Mendes has ever come to directing an action movie was 2005′s Jarhead, possibly (and purposefully) the least action-heavy war movie ever made. But as Mendes points out in a new video blog posted from the set of Skyfall, there was another reason why working with 007 seemed like a departure: “I’ve never made an English movie.” Indeed, after five films that explored America’s past and present, Skyfall will see the director taking the reigns of the most popular British franchise in history besides the one about the magic kids. The video provides a few intriguing sideways glances at scenes from Skyfall, including one setpiece that looks a bit like the nightclub scene from Collateral. Check out the video: READ FULL STORY »

Jan 7 2010 06:57 PM ET

A director royale? The James Bond series may just get handed to Mendes, Sam Mendes

by
Tags: , ,

If you asked me to name the half dozen filmmakers I would most love to see take a stab at directing a James Bond movie, I seriously doubt that I would have put Sam Mendes on the list. My first choice would probably be Quentin Tarantino, if only because I’ve long nurtured the fantasy that if QT were ever to set aside his highly specialized ’70s pulp fetishes and sign on to make, you know, a mainstream Hollywood movie, it could be a spectacular thing to see. There are other directors who would be obvious choices to helm a Bond extravaganza: Paul Greengrass, with his Bourne-again whipsaw extravagance, or Christopher Nolan, who with his two Batman movies proved that he’s exactly what a great Bond filmmaker (at least in my eyes) needs to be — a fantasist rooted in the real world. I’d also love to see what Kathryn Bigelow could do with an 007 installment. Beyond her pyrotechnical action chops, surely she would offer a novel angle on the ultimate big-screen ladies’ man.

Yet when I read that Mendes, the doomy poet of suburban distress (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road), was in talks to direct the 23rd Bond adventure, with a script co-written by the deviously clever Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) and Daniel Craig once again cast as the fabled superspy, my gut instinct said: Inspired choice! Mendes may be far from my favorite filmmaker (is he anyone’s?), but he’s a director of sharp personality and stately visual dazzle (he’s also British, which means that he’s got those posh and dagger-sharp Bond manners wired into his DNA), and as he proved in Jarhead, he can bring off massively scaled feats of logistical action as well. What Mendes brings to the table is just what the Bond series needs right now: not wilder gadgets or more caffeinated editing or bold new ways to order a cocktail, but a laser-like fixation on the cool dark interiors of outwardly slick and seamless characters. READ FULL STORY »

Advertisement

Find Movies and Showtimes

Choose Your Movie

All movies

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP
Who should win 'The Voice'?