[/caption]He's directed Kander & Ebb (Cabaret), Chekhov (The Cherry Orchard), Hare (The Blue Room) and currently tackles two more Shakespeares (As You Like It and The Tempest as part of The Bridge Project at BAM), but Sam Mendes may take on his toughest challenge yet: Bond. Yes, James Bond.
The stage and screen director is in negotiations to helm the next 007 film, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Filming could begin as soon as June for a possible 2011 release. Frost/Nixon playwright Peter Morgan will join screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade for the next installment to star recent Broadway newbie Daniel Craig (A Steady Rain).
Mendes earned praise and an Academy Award for his directorial debut of "American Beauty" and has also worked on "Road to Perdition," "Jarhead," "Revolutionary Road" (starring his wife Kate Winslet) and last year's "Away We Go."
