Sam Mendes says Spectre is his last Bond movie (probably...)

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the future of the long-running James Bond franchise recently, from whether Daniel Craig will stay on for another film or not to Sony possibly losing the distribution rights.

Director Sam Mendes has been promoting the latest Bond outing Spectre ahead of its US release this week, and although he's previously reneged on his original plans to only direct one Bond film, the chances of that happening again are slim.

Speaking with Deadline, he confirmed that "There is a sense of completeness that wasn’t there at the end of Skyfall, and that’s what makes this feel different. It feels like there’s a rightness to it, that I have finished a journey."

"You cast a new actor and find a new director, and make something totally new. I can, off the top of my head, give you three or four ideas for where it could go next. They’re all daring and big. To me, the enemy is repetition and laziness, and the great danger is not challenging the preexisting format."

"These are my two chapters of the Bond myth. Someone else is going to write a chapter or 10 or 50, because Bond is strong enough for that, and because there’s enough to play with. Daniel may absolutely turn around six months’ time and feel his energy renewed. Or he might say just the opposite. If he is as sensible as I think he is, he needs to go away and have some time to think and do another job that’s completely different, which he’s already doing with Othello." Never say never, right? Spectre is now open in UK and US cinemas.