James Bond in film Shanghai. Although set in Scotland, Bond's family home of Skyfall was constructed on Hankley Common in Surrey using plywood and plaster to build a full-scale model of the building, with some exterior scenes shot in Glen Etive and Glencoe. In September 2012 it was announced that Daniel Craig had signed to the role of Bond for the following two films, the first of which was "Spectre", funded by MGM and Sony. In March 2013 Mendes announced he would not return to direct the next film in the series, although he later decided to return. In July 2013 it was revealed
Sam Mendes is from Trinidad, is a Roman Catholic of Portuguese Creole descent, and his mother is an English Jew. His grandfather was the Trinidadian writer Alfred Hubert Mendes. Mendes's parents divorced when he was a child. He grew up in Oxfordshire and attended Magdalen College School and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he graduated with a first in English. While at Cambridge, he was a member of the Marlowe Society and directed several plays, including a production of "Cyrano de Bergerac" with Tom Hollander among the cast members. He was also a "brilliant" schoolboy cricketer, according to Wisden and played for Magdalen College