"Following the extraordinary success of SKYFALL, we're really excited to be working once again with Daniel Craig, Sam Mendes and John Logan.”

"I am very pleased that by giving me the time I need to honour all my theatre commitments, the producers have made it possible for me to direct Bond 24. I very much look forward to taking up the reins again, and to working with Daniel Craig, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for a second time,” said Mendes.

Fans ofand all other things good for James Bond, rejoice! Director Sam Mendes hasagreed to return to direct another installment of the Bond franchise, signing on today officially to direct what's now just being called. Here's what producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli had to say about bringing Mendes back into the fold:Craig, of course, is the actor currently building his own version of Bond as an icon on par with Sean Connery and Roger Moore, while screenwriter John Logan wrote, along withand other great things. Logan started work on bothandlast fall, whilewas still in theaters, and the speculation was that the two stories would be linked-- presumably the wayfed directly in to, but this time the second movie will actually be good.Mendes, who had been focusing on theater adaptations ofandand spent a lot of time casting serious doubts about his return behind the camera, seemed grateful that he was able to balance all that with another turn behind the camera of the giant action film:Confirmation about the size of the Brinks Truck that Sony backed up to Mendes's house has not yet arrived, but rest assured, when your movie makes a billion dollars, you get rewardedhandsomely for returning to the studio fold.Now that Mendes is locked in, the studio was also able to confirm a release date--, or whatever they wind up calling it, will be released in the UK on October 23, 2015, and in the United States on November 6 that year. 2015, as you may know, is already an insanely busy year, scheduled for The Avengers 2 Jurassic Park 4 , the finale of thefranchise, and the return of this little thing called Star Wars . If this were 2005, we might worry about James Bond being able to make his mark in a year already so crowded with hotly anticipated blockbusters. Butwas a massive,success, making more than $1 billion worldwide. The only competition Mendes new needs to worry about is himself.To relive just what a great job Mendes did handling, check out my interview with him from last film, and watch one of the many stunning trailers for. Now we just have to hope that Mendes brings back cinematographer Roger Deakins, who deserves a Brinks truck of his own for the incredible work he did last time. Something as good asmight be hard to pull off, but the pieces are coming together to at least give it a shot.