Sam Mendes

Armando Iannucci & Sam Mendes set HBO pilot about superhero movie-making

The Veep and Avenue 5 creator and Skyfall director have scored a pilot order for comedy The Franchise at the premium cable network. The half-hour project takes a wry look at superhero movie-making.

Peter White, Deadline, 8th August 2022

Radio Times review

It's business as usual for the final episode, which is to say moments of brilliance and stretches that go a bit tepid. But that's the deal with Toast: you put up with the iffy bits for the occasional dash of comic glory you wouldn't find anywhere else.

Our luckless curmudgeon gets a job at the Globe in a production of Twelfth Night by radical director Daz Klondyke. It's to be performed by a cast of dogs as "a metaphor for what's happening in Syria". Yes, it's daft, but if you want an idea of the series' celebrity fans, look out for cameos from Jude Law, Martin Freeman, Sheila Hancock and others. They're all basically agreeing that Toast is, as Sam Mendes puts it, "a colossal t**t".

David Butcher, Radio Times, 16th December 2015

Norton hosts a James Bond special tonight when 007 himself Daniel Craig, his boss Judi Dench ("M") and his latest adversary, Javier Bardem, make themselves comfortable on the sofa.

The trio star in the eagerly anticipated 23rd Bond movie, Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes. A brief trailer released on the internet whetted appetites of Bond fans across the globe, and not just because it featured a brief shot of Bond in his trunks emerging slick from a swimming pool.

So there is much to talk about, and not just the film. Here's hoping we hear Craig talk about that unforgettable little moment back in the summer when Bond strode through the carpeted corridors of Buckingham Palace to escort his employer, the Queen, to the Olympic Games opening ceremony. For many her short greeting - "Good evening, Mr Bond" - was the highlight of a momentous evening.

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 26th October 2012