While No Time to Die packed a powerful punch, Skyfall is still widely viewed by fans as the best James Bond movie. That may go some way in explaining why the next instalment, Spectre, was widely viewed as a disappointment that failed to live up to its Oscar-worthy predecessor.
Tonally, it felt like director Sam Mendes had gone from taking inspiration from Sean Connery's time as 007 to trying to recreate the cheesiness of Roger Moore's stint. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter (via ActioNewz.com) about Skyfall's recent 10-year anniversary, the filmmaker admitted that Spectre did fall short and offered a reason why.
"These movies are very difficult to write," Mendes said. "Those 10 months of downtime, that’s when the script really turned around, because we had the time to go down blind alleys and try things like the [Bond/Silva team-up]. And that time was not afforded to me when we made Spectre. And you can see the difference in the script."
"[With Spectre], I felt there was some pressure. Certainly Barbara and Michael exerted some pressure on me and Daniel to make the next one, so that makes a big difference," he continued. "People saying: ‘We want you to do it,’ and passionately wooing me to do it, was a big thing."
The franchise's producers seemingly learned from that mistake, hence why there was such a big gap between Spectre and No Time to Die. During that time, a movie from Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) was considered and scrapped, while there have been reports that even the latest effort suffered from some behind-the-scenes issues.
Looking ahead, there's still no word on who will take over from Daniel Craig as the iconic Ian Fleming creation, with an announcement not expected to be made until next year at the earliest. As a result, we're also still a long way off from learning who will write and direct the next 007 adventure.
What is your favourite James Bond movie? Let us know in the comments section.