Sam Mendes developing next James Bond film with John Logan, but will he direct?

Even before Skyfall became the highest grossing James Bond film ever, plans were already underway for a follow-up. But it wasn't like you'd expect, with all of the pieces coming back together again. Franchise scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade stepped aside to allow John Logan to write the next two films solo, and Sam Mendes has played it coy as to whether or not he'd come back to direct.

At the Doha Film Festival, Purvis and Wade  confirmed their exit, probably so they can focus on their crime drama Corsica '72 which has Park Chan-Wook lined up as director. But they also revealed a major piece of information on the next Bond film that makes it sound like Mendes may be considering a return.

Wade: “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.”

So it sounds like Mendes is going to be involved at least on a story level, but could it possibly be more? I think it's also important to note that he said "another one" and not two movies. There had been talk of the next two movies comprising one storyarc, although Daniel Craig dismissed the idea.  Obviously, producers would want to keep as many of the Skyfall ingredients together as possible, and I think it'd be a smart decision on their part, even if they have to wait a bit longer for Mendes' schedule to open up.