Even though there are no more Ian Fleming books to film, the success of Skyfall means the James Bond film franchise is here to stay. Sam Mendes has signed up, on behalf of himself and the next generation of the Mendes family, to direct a further ten films. “But”, he says, “we’re having to move with the times... literally. So in the next film, When You’re Dead, You’re Dead, due to be released in time for Christmas 2013, Bond will have to cope with the aging process, just like everybody else.
“He’ll still have the women: the Meals on Wheels lady will come on Tuesdays, while a woman from Estonia will come in on Thursdays to tidy up and give him a blanket bath. The challenges will still be there too - prising the child-proof cap off a bottle of pills, getting up out of a low chair - though Bond will have to relinquish the Aston Martin for a seat on the bus... if he can find one that doesn’t smell of parma violets or piss.
“Most of the action will be in flashback, as Bond reminisces about ‘the good old days’, and talks, to camera, about his lawn”.