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
Sam Mendes "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice", Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party", and "Othello" with Simon Russell Beale as Iago. In 1990 Mendes was appointed artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, a studio space in London's Covent Garden which he helped transform into one of the city's more notable theatre venues. He spent his first two years overseeing the redesign of the theatre, and his opening production was Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" in 1992. Several successful productions followed. In 1993 Mendes staged an acclaimed revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb's "Cabaret" starring Jane Horrocks as Sally Bowles, Alan Cumming as