As cinemas slowly climb back to their former glory after the pandemic and streaming had put a considerable dip in sales and attendance, this year, we are getting three movies celebrating the magic of movies and movie making. This November sees the release of The Fabelmans, which is a semi-autobiographical film about Steven Spielberg’s life, this December, we will get the release of Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, an erratic look into the 1920s film business. Also, this December marks the release of Sam Mendes’ personal drama, Empire of Light.
Empire of Light deals with multiple stories of an ensemble of characters about love and race and culminates in the film’s screening. Mendes draws from his own life as an influence for the film. As Mendes speaks to Deadline, he inevitably addresses his two-film stint with the James Bond franchise. He is now committed to doing more personal work, even though he thoroughly enjoyed his time on Skyfall and Spectre.
Mendes states he probably wouldn’t return to 007, saying, “I don’t think they’d want me anymore. It was an incredible thing to do at that moment in my life; I couldn’t have asked for a better thing. I saw the world in a different way.” He equated making James Bond films to working as an engineer, “It’s like erecting scaffolding and building an entire world. It’s exhausting, in a different way.”
He adds that Bond must evolve to prevent the property from going stale, “I don’t envy Barbara having to follow Daniel’s [Craig] five movies. He reinvigorated the franchise, but the franchise is so huge that it’s very difficult for a younger actor to step into that. I think that the actor playing Bond is going to evolve. The director has to evolve. I think it would be wonderful to see a woman directing Bond. I think it would be wonderful.”
Many names have been thrown out to take up the next James Bond series of films – everyone from Henry Cavill to Idris Elba. However, there has been a mixed bag of responses from fans who like the Daniel Craig series’ new direction or those who miss the self-contained adventures of movies past. Whatever happens, it’s certainly a thin line to walk.
Mendes’ Empire of Light is slated to hit theatres on December 9.