Sam Mendes has never done a sequel, but he had never done an action movie before Skyfall, and that turned out pretty well.  Today, the Daily Mail is reporting that Mendes is “’75 per cent’ of the way towards” returning for James Bond 24.  In November, we reported that Mendes has reportedly dreamed up a new scenario with Skyfall screenwriter John Logan, so the director was already looking ahead even though he hadn’t officially signed on.  However, in his interview with Steve, Mendes said he already did everything he wanted to do with a Bond movie in Skyfall.

Hit the jump for more on Mendes’ hesitation, if the next Bond will be a two-parter, and when we can expect to see 007′s next adventure.

As part of the Showtime portion of the TCA Press Tour, President of Entertainment David Nevins took some time to talk about current and upcoming shows for the network, and the end game for a few of their long-time series.  During the interview, he talked about how he felt about the creative direction of Homeland for Season 2, whether he’d consider continuing the series without Damian Lewis, how Dexter is progressing, that the contemporary genre thriller The Vatican (from Paul Attanasio and Ridley Scott) will go into production in April, how John Logan will be writing every episode of Penny Dreadful with the hope that Sam Mendes will direct, that it will be a psychological and highly erotic story set in Victorian London, what fans can expect from The Borgias, when Californication might end, the plan for when Episodes will return, what makes Masters of Sex a compelling series, and the epic feel of the multi-episode event documentary Years of Living Dangerously, from James Cameron.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Longtime James Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have confirmed today that they will be departing the franchise.  The duo is responsible for penning the screenplays for all the Daniel Craig Bond films as well as The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.  They penned the latest entry, Skyfall, alongside John Logan, and in announcing their departure they revealed that Logan and director Sam Mendes have already dreamed up a scenario for Bond 24:

“We’re very happy to have done five Bond movies, I think we’ve gotten it to a good place. I know that John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with a plot for another one, which takes the pressure off because these films take up a lot of time.”

Mendes has yet to commit to returning for a further Bond entry, but it’s reassuring to know that he and Logan have an idea of where the story could pick up following the killer ending to Skyfall.  Hit the jump to read the full press release, and click here to watch Steve’s recent interview with Mendes about the film.

At the recent Los Angeles press day for Skyfall, I was able to speak with director Sam Mendes.  During our extended conversation we talked about fan reaction to Skyfall, whether it was tough to land cinematographer Roger Deakins, deleted scenes, what will be on the eventual Blu-ray, whether he will direct another James Bond film, Javier Bardem’s character’s sexuality, crafting his own version of a Bond story rather than being beholden to the Bond mythos, and a lot more.  In addition, we talked about his Preacher adaptation, whether he would direct a comic book movie like Justice League (and his thoughts on the comic book movie genre), his vampire hunter TV series featuring Van Helsing with John Logan (which he will produce and possibly direct the pilot), and more.

I absolutely loved Skyfall.  Sam Mendes has crafted one of the best James Bond movies ever made.  While the Bond franchise is now 50 years old, Mendes has shown the best might be yet to come.  I really can’t recommend this film enough.  For all our Skyfall coverage including our review, clips, posters, my set visit and more, click here.  Skyfall also stars Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Helen McCrory, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe and Ben Whishaw.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.

The James Bond film franchise has stood for 50 years.  It has lived, died, returned, died some more, returned again, and as the longest-running blockbuster franchise in history, it constantly walks the line between life and death regarding the series’ potency.  There likely will always be another James Bond film, but the character’s relevancy is always in question.  Can the modern audience accept Bond in a world where a grittier spy like Jason Bourne seemingly has more power to engage audiences?  Isn’t James Bond a relic that can’t convincingly survive in a post-9/11 world?  The latest Bond film, Skyfall, explores these question is a fascinating, compelling manner and does so within one of the series’ most exhilarating, perfectly crafted, and absolutely captivating entries to date.

The buzz on the latest James Bond film Skyfall is incredibly positive, and much of the film’s success is due to director Sam Mendes and screenwriter John Logan.  It appears that the two got along well during the collaboration, as they’re now set to team up for decidedly new territory: a genre TV series.  The two are currently shopping a drama series set in the 1800s London featuring classic horror characters like Van Helsing and Doctor Frankenstein hunting for vampires.  Hit the jump for more.

I dubbed our earlier Jon Hamm/Daniel Radcliffe article today’s “most good-looking story,” but it appears that I may have spoken prematurely.  Academy Award winner Colin Firth and the Academy Award worthy Michael Fassbender are now set to team up for the real life drama Genius.  The film is based on A. Scott Berg’s biography Max Perkins: Editor of Genius and tells the story of the relationship between Thomas Wolfe (Fassbender) and editor Max Perkins (Firth).  Perkins served as an editor for a number of literary greats, including Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and his role as a devoted friend and surrogate psychoanalyst made him privy to the intricate details of these men’s lives.  Sean Penn was previously eyeing the role that Firth will now step into.

Directed by Michael Grandage, the film will begin production in early 2014 with a script by John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo).  That may seem far off, but Firth and Fassbender are understandably busy guys.  Fassbender most recently filmed the period drama Twelve Years a Slave and Ridley Scott’s The Counselor, while Firth shot the real life drama The Railway Man and the West Memphis Three film Devil’s Knot this summer.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Due to MGM’s financial meltdown, there was a four year wait since the last James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.  The franchise’s producers aren’t going to let that happen again, especially since the new entry, Skyfall, is garnering ridiculously positive buzz.  It also looks like they’re sticking to one of that film’s successful contributors.  According to the Daily Mail, Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator) will return to write the next movie.  The key difference is that Logan will write the script solo.  The past five movies—Skyfall, Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale, Die Another Day, The World Is Not Enough—were partially written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, but Logan was called in to re-write Skyfall.  If Logan has helped to deliver what some are calling one of the series’ best films, then I’m glad to see that he’ll be back to write the next movie.

As for when we’ll see that movie, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are hoping to shoot at Pinewood Studios (and I’m sure at various exotic locales) next year for a fall 2014 release, which confirms a report from earlier this year.  Considering that the every Bond film since The World Is Not Enough has opened in November, I would expect to see Bond 24 land in November 2014. Hit the jump for more on Logan’s suspected two-part Bond treatment.

A feature film adaptation of the Broadway hit Jersey Boys has been in development for the past two years, but now it appears that producer Graham King (The Town) is getting serious about actually making the film.  The documentary-style musical tells the story of The Four Seasons, chronicling the group’s rise in the 1960s with such hits as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man.” Back in January, Hugo and Rango scribe John Logan was tapped to write the screenplay, and now it appears that Jon Favreau is the frontrunner to direct the pic.  Hit the jump for more.

The 2012 Annie Awards were held last night, and critical favorite Rango ended up deservedly taking home the Best Animated Feature award. Gore Verbinski’s quirky western also took home the award for Best Writing in a Feature Production, Best Editing, and the Members Favorite Award, but lost Best Directing to Kung Fu Panda 2’s Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Bill Nighy won Best Voice Acting for Arthur Christmas, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes took home the Character Animation in a Live Action Feature Production award.

On the television side of things, The Simpsons was awarded the top prize as well as Best Directing and Best Writing. Heading into the Academy Awards, Rango is our clear frontrunner. The Adventures of Tintin was pegged as the film’s biggest competition at the Oscar ceremony, but the Steven Spielberg film was ultimately left out of the nominations. Hit the jump to see the full list of Annie Awards Winners.

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards have finally been unveiled. Many of the categories have fallen in line just as most have predicted (I fared alright with my predictions, but not great), with Hugo scoring 11 nods, followed closely by The Artist with 10. The biggest surprises are War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting in for Best Picture, the exclusion of The Adventures of Tintin from Best Animated Feature, and The Tree of Life nabbing Best Picture and Best Director nods (hooray!). On the snub side of things, despite landing the most precursor critics awards of any other actor in the race thus far, Albert Brooks was denied a Best Supporting Actor nod for his stellar work in Drive (boo). Additionally, Tilda Swinton was overlooked for giving the best performance of the year in We Need to Talk About Kevin, and AMPAS has no love for Michael Fassbender‘s haunting work in Shame.

There’s still plenty to be happy about, as Gary Oldman has his first ever Oscar Nomination (yes, that’s right) and Melissa McCarthy is a Best Supporting Actress nominee. Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees. The 84th Academy Awards will be presented by Billy Crystal on February 26th.

As I’ve been covering awards season pretty extensively here on the site over the past few months, I figured it would be appropriate to (foolishly) try to predict the upcoming Oscar nominations. It’s been a fairly tame year, as a few frontrunners were singled out early in the race and have held their ground throughout the grueling awards season. We haven’t been without a few surprises, as Steven Spielberg’s War Horse took a massive tumble following snubs from most of the major guilds, and David Fincher has surged back into the race bringing his adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with him.

Though there are plenty of safe bets when it comes to the 2012 Oscar nominations, there are still a few wildcards and tricky categories. I’ve put on my prognosticating cap (those interested can purchase one of these nifty hats at your local Target) and compiled a list of who and what I think will make the cut. Hit the jump to see how I think the nods will stack up when they’re announced on January 24th.

In October 2010, we reported that producer Graham King (The Town) had picked up the feature film rights to adapt the smash Broadway musical Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.  Today, THR reports that screenwriter John Logan will handle the script for the movie.  For those unfamiliar with the Four Seasons, they’re the 60s pop group who brought us songs like “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man.”  Jersey Boys was a ridiculously massive hit on Broadway, and the musical has grossed over $1 billion since premiered in 2005.

Jersey Boys will re-team Logan and King as the two previously worked together on Hugo, which is likely to earn some Oscar nominations including one for Logan for Best Adapted Screenplay.  Although I had some problems with Hugo, Logan had an undeniably great 2011 career-wise.  He picked up screenwriting credits for Rango and Coriolanus, and he’s got the new James Bond flick, Skyfall, on deck for 2012.  Jersey Boys won’t be his first time adapting a musical; he previously adapted Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Opening this week is Martin Scorsese‘s first 3D film, Hugo.  Based on Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret and written by John Logan, the film stars Asa Butterfield as a young boy secretly living in a train station in 1931 Paris.  As he attempts to piece together a puzzle that he’d been working on with his father, the results transform not only Hugo, but everyone he comes in contact with.  The impressive cast also includes Chloe Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Emily Mortimer, and Michael Stuhlbarg. You can watch a trailer here.

During my extended interview with Logan we talked about the way he writes, working with Scorsese, how he got involved in Hugo, what it was like to adapt the book, and the level of rewriting done on the set.  In addition, with Logan writing the new James Bond film Skyfall for director and acquaintance Sam Mendes, he discussed how he got involved in that project and writing the action scenes so that the action suits the story.  Finally, he talked about spending years working with Steven Spielberg on Lincoln (they ultimately went with someone else’s script) and what he might have coming up.  Hit the jump to watch.

The most talented directors find a way to use their cinematic influences in order to build a new story, and then let the audience seek out those influences.  It’s a rewarding experience because we can see how well the director used the earlier work of other filmmakers, and then we seek out that work for ourselves, which in turn expands our knowledge and understanding of cinema.  Martin Scorsese is one of the most talented directors of all-time and has always proved a master of layering in his inspirations without ever overtly referencing them.  He leaves that direct reference for interviews where his infectious energy and enthusiasm shows that if he wasn’t a legendary filmmaker, he’d be a legendary film professor.  However, that energy and enthusiasm doesn’t translate to his new 3D movie Hugo where he moves his love of movies from subtext to text, and turns a child’s adventure story into a lecture on the importance of cinema pioneer Georges Méliès.