Bond 23: Mendes confirmed as director, Telegraph says

The Telegraph newspaper says that Eon Productions co-boss Barbara Broccoli confirmed to its Mandrake column that Sam Mendes will be director of Bond 23.

This comes after the director in a January interview with the Wall Street Journal, said that was merely speculation.

Also, in the Telegraph story, there’s this passage:

Now, I hear that Peter Morgan, the screenwriter of The Queen, who had been announced as one of the writers on the 007 film, is no longer working on the script. Patrick Marber, the acclaimed playwright, is understood to be wanted by Mendes as his replacement.

“It is a mystery worthy of a Bond script,” says my man with the clapperboard.

If you want to read the entire (though sketchy) item, just click on the link above or YOU CAN CLICK HERE.

Here’s a caveat. The future of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., which controls half the 007 franchise, isn’t settled. The studio has released exactly one movie so far this year. Bond 23 might not go into production until MGM is either sold or revamped.