As an October production start date looms closer, details are finally starting to surface about the next James Bond film.  After crafting one of the best entries in the franchise ever with Skyfall, screenwriter John Logan and director Sam Mendes return to try and raise the bar once again with Bond 24, and now Logan has spoken up a bit to give an update on the project.  The scribe says the first draft is nearly done and teases that the next film will continue the themes explored in Skyfall, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of a “sequel” Bond 24 will be in relation to Skyfall.  As a bit of trivia, this is the first time a director has returned to helm the next Bond film since John Glen directed five in a row, from For Your Eyes Only through Licence to Kill.

Hit the jump for more from Logan on Bond 24, looking to Ian Fleming and the previous films for inspiration, and even Bond 25.

sam-mendes-daniel-craig-james-bond-25
Image via Sony

Speaking with Empire, Logan provided a status update on the next Bond film:

“Right now the first draft is almost done. I’m terrifically excited about it! I’ve been working very closely with Sam [Mendes], and it’s been joyous to pick up from our work on Skyfall and just continue on with the storytelling. The new movie continues the themes of Skyfall. Some of the characters and themes that we began to introduce in Skyfall will play out, I hope successfully, in the next movie.”

The scribe also confirmed that he and Mendes have been working closely with Daniel Craig on drafting script, just as they did on Skyfall:

“Daniel’s very involved. It behooves no-one to write a character that the lead actor doesn’t want to play, so having worked so closely on Skyfall, I have my own sense of what I think Dan responds to, as does Sam, [and producers] Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson of course.”

skyfall-movie-image-daniel-craig
Image via Sony/MGM/Eon

As for how the story of Bond 24 is taking shape, Logan declined to confirm that S.P.E.C.T.R.E. would play a role but he did speak about looking to the earlier films for inspiration:

“There might be [a presence of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.]! Honestly, not being evasive, but the great thing about Bond is that I have fifty years of movies – 23 movies and all the Ian Fleming novels and short stories, all of which are fodder. And when I’m working on the new Bond I’m constantly going back to Fleming and the other movies – what are the bits and pieces, what are the resonances? One of the things we learned in Skyfall is that the audience really enjoyed those, they enjoyed when they saw the Aston Martin, they enjoyed when we had references to things they grew up with, either from Ian Fleming or from the other movies, and that’s always been a part of my thinking about Bond.”

naomie-harris-skyfall-image

Logan gave a strict “no comment” when asked if we’d see the return of Quantum, Blofield, or any other Double-0 agents, and while early rumors had Logan and Mendes returning for both Bond 24 and Bond 25, the scribe says he’s just focusing on this one film at the moment:

“I’m just trying to get one done first! If I survive this one, we’ll see about the next one!” Yes John, but is it a two-parter? “Couldn’t comment!”

As a final tease, Logan said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” when asked if this film will be as big as Skyfall, so suffice it to say, Mendes and Logan know full well that they have a high bar to cross and they seem up for the challenge.  Bond 24 will open in the U.K. on October 23, 2015 and in the U.S. on November 6, 2015.

skyfall-james-bond-image
Image via Sony/MGM/Eon