Sam Mendes critical and commercial success, becoming the 14th film to gross over $1 billion worldwide. Following the success of "Skyfall", Mendes was asked if he was returning to direct the next Bond film. He responded, "I felt I put everything I possibly could into this film and it was the Bond film I wanted to make. And if I felt I could do the same again, then absolutely I would consider doing another one. But it is a big task and I wouldn't do it unless I knew I could." It was reported that one reason Mendes was reluctant to commit
Motifs in the James Bond film series Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" eventually winning the award. With the exception of the first two Daniel Craig films, "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace", every Bond film has a sequence in which Bond interacts with Miss Moneypenny, the personal assistant to M, Bond's superior. Lois Maxwell was the first to portray Moneypenny and did so for fourteen Eon-produced Bond films from "Dr. No" in 1962 to "A View to a Kill" in 1985 opposite Connery, Lazenby, and Moore. She was followed by Caroline Bliss, Samantha Bond and Naomie Harris, who played opposite Dalton, Brosnan and Craig respectively. The four