REPORT: Sam Mendes Confirmed to Direct 'Skyfall' Sequel and Probably the James Bond Film After That

The "Who Will Direct the Next James Bond Movie" Saga evolved pretty quickly this week. In the matter of a few days, we went from Sam Mendes not directing to Sony looking at directors like Christopher Nolan, Ang Lee, Shane Black and Nicholas Winding Refn to the studio ready to put the sequel to Skyfall on hold in order to get Mendes back. On Friday, Showbiz411 not only confirmed that Mendes would be back for what's being referred to as Bond 24 but also reported that it was "most likely" that the director would also return for Bond 25.

Last September, we learned that Daniel Craig would return for two more Bond films after Skyfall, with Bond 24 and Bond 25 being written as a two-part story. With Mendes coming back to direct both films, Skyfall and the next two Bond movies will form the first trilogy for a franchise that has basically operated on a film-to-film basis. It's no surprise that Sony is ready to hand the Bond series over to Mendes considering the fact that Skyfall made over $1 billion worldwide.