Motifs in the James Bond film series that is central to the spy film genre. The gun barrel imagery sometimes carried over to the film posters used to promote Bond films, including as a familiarising element on the introduction of Timothy Dalton for "The Living Daylights". The sequence was traditionally placed at the start of each film until the 2006 instalment "Casino Royale", where it appears after the cold open and is incorporated into the plot; in the 2008 film, "Quantum of Solace", the sequence was placed at the end of the film and incorporates the film's title in its design. For Skyfall, director Sam Mendes had
Sam Mendes released in October 2015. This made him the first filmmaker since John Glen to direct two Bond films in a row. Mendes and the actress Kate Winslet met in 2001, when Mendes approached her about appearing in a play at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre, where he was then artistic director. They married in May 2003, on what they characterised as a whim, while on holiday in Anguilla. Their son Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes was born on 22 December 2003 in New York City. Mendes also had a stepdaughter, Mia, from Winslet's first marriage to filmmaker Jim Threapleton. Mendes and Winslet's