Director Sam Mendes discussed the state-of-play with James Bond 24 this week, stating that the script is currently being worked on, and explaining how watching Daniel Craig on stage has inspired him.

Sam Mendes, in conversation at the BFI.

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 also promoting his London production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and revealed how both projects have complemented each other.“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 October 2015.

Chris Tilly is the Entertainment Editor for IGN in the UK and Croydon's answer to Bond. He can be found talking nonsense on both Twitter and MyIGN