Sam Mendes To Write And Direct WWI Film “1917”

By Daniel Howat 

​After helming back-to-back Bond films “Skyfall” and “Spectre,” Sam Mendes has set his next project: World War I film “1917.” According to Variety, the spec package was purchased by Spielberg’s Amblin Partners. Other than the WWI setting, nothing else is known yet about the plot of the film.

​Click below to read more.

Though this will be the Oscar-winning director’s eighth directorial feature, “1917” marks his first writing credit. Mendes wrote the script with “Penny Dreadful” writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns. He will also produce the film, which Spielberg has called a “hugely daring and ambitious new movie.”

Mendes’ won Best Director for his first directorial feature “American Beauty,” which also won Best Picture. Since then, he’s moved on to a pretty eclectic filmography: crime thriller (“Road To Perdition”), Iraq War drama (“Jarhead”), historical drama (“Revolutionary Road”), modern dramedy (“Away We Go”), and two Bond films (“Skyfall” and “Spectre”). This adds another genre to that list with the historical war film. He hasn’t received another Oscar nomination since his win, but if history tells us anything, it’s that war epics have a high chance of Oscar nominations. It worked just last year for Christopher Nolan with “Dunkirk" and the year prior with Mel Gibson's "Hacksaw Ridge." Each scored Best Picture/Best Director nominations with wins in the craft categories.

Will “1917” bring Mendes back to the Oscars? Tell us what you think of this news in the comments below.

You can follow Daniel and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter at @howatdk​