When it comes to cinematography, Sam Mendes doesn’t fuck around. Like that bag-loving emo kid in American Beauty, he sees profound splendor in everything, from the sterile uniformity of suburbia to the battle-ravaged deserts of the Middle East to John Krasinki going down on Maya Rudolph. And to make sure all of us can share in his ocular ecstasy, the Oscar-winning filmmaker tends to spare no expense on directors of photography, hiring some of the industry’s best and brightest to lens his movies.
That trend will continue with Mendes’ next feature, and his second addition to the ongoing 007 franchise. For Bond 24, as it’s temporarily being called, the director has secured the expert eyes of Dutch D.P. Hoyte Van Hoytema. The newcomer has big shoes to fill: Master cinematographer Roger Deakins shot Skyfall, Mendes’ inaugural spy game, and it was easily the best-looking Bond movie ever. But Van Hoytema is no slouch. He brought an elegant sheen to two Thomas Alfredson projects, Let The Right One In and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, before composing those gorgeous close-ups in Her. Audiences can next see his work in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which should give everyone a good idea of what he can do with an astronomical budget. 007’s next mission begins shooting in December and will hit theaters around Thanksgiving of next year.