Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

James Bond: Spectre director Sam Mendes says film felt like Daniel Craig's 'goodbye' to the franchise

'He needs to have a break and do another role and see how he feels after that'

Jack Shepherd
Tuesday 22 March 2016 11:05 EDT
Comments
Daniel Craig's James Bond in Casino Royal
Daniel Craig's James Bond in Casino Royal (Eon Productions)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Way before the release of Spectre people were discussing who should replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond.

In various interviews, Craig only fuelled rumours he wouldn't be returning to the franchise, at one point saying he’d rather “slash his wrists” than play 007 again.

However, his departure has been denied by camps at Sony, yet Craig hasn’t committed himself to returning yet. Spectre director Sam Mendes has hinted that the 2015 film was in some ways the actor saying goodbye to Bond.

"It did feel to me like Daniel was saying goodbye to Bond at the end", he told Empire at their awards show.

Mendes quickly clarified: ”but there’s clearly a way he can easily come back. Bond isn’t dead! So that’s clearly Daniel’s call. But I think you’ve got to feel 100% to come back, and I think he knows that.

“He needs to have a break and do another role and see how he feels after that. I’ll be watching with as much interest as you guys.”

According to the report, development on Bond 25 is set to begin imminently. No cast or director have been announced for the film but it is widely expected that Christoph Waltz will return.

In other “who could be the next Bond” news, Aiden Turner and Tom Hiddleston have become frontrunners to replace Craig, having both starred in separate very popular BBC Sunday night dramas.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in