Sara Keene, Mendes's British publicist, confirmed today that the director, who won an Academy Award for his first movie, American Beauty, in 1999, had met representatives of the Bond franchise to discuss the 23rd film in the series, but said nothing had been finalised.

"I can confirm that he has had a meeting, but Sam always has lots of projects on the table that he might direct next," Keene said. "Sam's method is to have a number of projects as possible next films and at some point to confirm which film he's going to do."

Screenwriter Peter Morgan has tantalisingly teased 007 fans just before the Christmas holidays with the first glimpse in to the creative process behind the 23rd James Bond film.

Morgan, who was drafted in to compliment regular James Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, has moved from London to Vienna, Austria.

Renowned for his scripting of the award-winning films "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon", Morgan moved to the city in the summer along with his wife and four children, telling the local press that the lack of direct flights to Los Angeles makes it a 15 hour trip back to Hollywood.

From July until October this year, Morgan was writing the first draft of Bond 23 - the third outing for Daniel Craig as 007. "It's a shocking story", he said after admitting he couldn't give anything more away.

It's a far cry from Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever. But animated tale Sir Billi the Vet, about the attempts of a retired Scottish animal doctor to rescue a fugitive beaver, will have one thing in common with the James Bond classics: the voices of Sean Connery and Shirley Bassey.

The veteran Scots actor has signed up to voice the lead, while Bassey takes singing duties on the title song, Guardian of the Highlands, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It's the first time their vocal talents have appeared in the same film since Diamonds Are Forever in 1971

Ian Fleming -- author of 12 thrillers turned films about James Bond, the super spy known as 007 who always lived on the edge -- is now the subject of his own movie. Yesterday (December 29), James McAvoy was approached to play the biographical film's lead role, retelling Ian Fleming’s experiences from his wartime involvement to the process he used when writing his famous tomes.

According to the UK Independent, the producers of the Ian Fleming flick approached James McAvoy to play the title role in the $40 million production. Among other aspects in the telling of the life and times of Ian Fleming, the author lived in Jamaica while working on his famous books.

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Mel Gibson wanted to play the coveted role of James Bond but was turned down by legendary 007 producer Cubby Broccoli, scriptwriter Tom Mankiewicz has revealed.

Speaking at a Bond convention in Los Angeles, Mankiewicz, who scripted Live And Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun, said Gibson’s 5ft 9in frame took him out of the race for the spy’s role.

“At one point Mel Gibson wanted to play Bond,” the Daily Express quoted Mankiewicz, as saying.

He added: “And Cubby was against it. Cubby first of all had a thing about tall people. Bond had to be tall. And so Mel Gibson was too short. But he was a big star. Somebody at United Artists said to me, ‘Call him and tell him Mel Gibson would be great.’ And Cubby said, ‘I don’t want to make a Mel Gibson movie, I want to make a James Bond movie.’”

A rare comic book featuring Ian Fleming's James Bond dating back to the 1960s has sold in a London auction.

The book, based on the 1962 classic Dr No, was released by DC Comics to coincide with the fictional spy's big screen debut. It raised $227 when it was put under the hammer by Cameo Auctioneers.

"This Dr No comic is extremely rare and in impeccable condition given it is nearly 50 years old," said film memorabilia and comic consultant Adrian Cowdry. "It is a 'must have' for fans of James Bond, Ian Fleming or Sean Connery.

"The comic was aimed at reaching the comic reading masses. Hundreds were printed but in those days very few people thought comics would be worth keeping. Kids read them then gave them to friends or threw them out, or their parents would put them on the coal fire."

In the early '60s, movie producers adapting Ian Fleming's novels about a suave British spy named James Bond plucked a relative unknown, Sean Connery, out of obscurity and offered him the role of a lifetime. And when Connery left the franchise after five movies, the hunt for Bond was on again.

LIFE sent photographer Loomis Dean to the final casting sessions for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (released 40 years ago this week), and the magazine published a handful of those photos.