Oscar-winner Sam Mendes ‘to direct next Bond film’

Sam Mendes, the 44-year-old British theatre director who made his named directing plays at the Donmar Warehouse and then won an Oscar with his first feature film American Beauty, has apparently made another surprising career choice. He is being tipped to make the next Bond movie.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Mendes is in negotiations with Bond producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli to direct the as-yet-untitled 'Bond 23'. If Mendes agrees, production on the new film could start as early as June.

Daniel Craig - whom Mendes directed in his 2002 film Road to Perdition - will reprise his role as agent 007 while Judi Dench will return as M. British scriptwriter Peter Morgan, the Oscar nominee for The Queen and Frost/Nixon, has already been signed up to write the script along with Bond screenwriting stalwarts Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

Despite this heavyweight team, the thought of Mendes signing up for the long-running Bond franchise has been greeted with dismay by some Hollywood observers. The Los Angeles Times film critic Patrick Goldstein called the idea of the "wonderfully cerebral and cultured" Mendes directing a Bond film "a bad decision in oh, so many ways".

Mendes's career has floundered of late, with the director taking on more and more diverse projects. His remake of Richard Yates' cult novel Revolutionary Road, was seen as a disappointment by critics and grossed only $22 million despite starring Titanic stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, Mendes's wife. Mendes then turned his hand to a road-trip comedy, Away We Go. But the low-key, indie-style film struggled to earn $9.4 million.

But, says Goldstein, a few flops is no excuse to turn to a Bond film, which is "by definition, hack work… the equivalent of hiring Irving Penn to do a photo spread for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue."

Mendes and his agents would appear to be going after the big money and "some respectable box-office numbers", says Goldstein, who argues the director would be far better getting out of his current rut by going back to his roots for a stint in the London theatre. "Say it ain't so, Sam. For someone of your talents, doing a James Bond movie is really the worst example of stooping to conquer." ·