Director Sam Mendes talks ‘Bond 24’ using Daniel Craig, parallels to ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’
Fans are clamoring for more details surrounding the upcoming James Bond set, but director Sam Mendes only spoke about the early stages, the script and star Daniel Craig.
MGM
Speaking at a BFI screening, Mendes said, “The next one – it’s being written… It’s ongoing. For me, so much of it is about script. It’s like the building of a boat – once the boat gets on the current, it’s gone. If there’s a hole in the boat, you’re f**ked. So you’ve got to make sure there’s no holes in the boat, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
He also said that watching Daniel Craig on stage had inspired him to go further with the character. “I went to see Daniel Craig in Betrayal and I was reminded what a fantastic actor he is outside of James Bond,” he explained. “It inspires you to think of other ways to use him and allow him to express that. Ralph Fiennes is another great example.”
Mendes was promoting his stage version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and noted how much the characters, universes played off one another.
“At a certain point, there’s no question that working on Skyfall and Charlie at the same time, as I was for three or four years, one fed the other” he explained. “They are two great iconic characters, by iconic writers – Fleming and Dahl – both of them quite strange. Both of them in a sense became more famous after they were dead. More lauded now than when they were alive. Considered populist and perhaps not entirely to be taken seriously. And yet now seem to be two of the greater writers of the 20th century in this country. Both had odd relationships with the country itself. And they created these two great iconic characters – Willy Wonka and James Bond.
“So there was lots of back-and-forth going I felt. And they did of course come into contact, with Dahl writing the screenplay for Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and they knew each other. So they were drawn to each other as well. So it’s interesting that there are parallels.”
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is currently playing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, while Bond 24 is due to hit screens November 6, 2015.
MGM
