‘Bond 24’ News: Sam Mendes Compares James Bond To Willy Wonka? Talks ‘Skyfall’ And ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ London Production

"Bond 24" director Sam Mendes recently opened up at a British Film Institute (BFI) screening about the progress of the latest 007 movie installment - and compared James Bond to Willy Wonka!

Sam Mendes revealed how working on "Skyfall" and "Bond 24" while also directing his London production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" actually worked in tandem.

"At a certain point, there's no question that working on 'Skyfall' and 'Charlie' at the same time, as I was for three or four years, one fed the other" Sam Mendes explained, IGN reports. "They are two great iconic characters, by iconic writers - Fleming and Dahl - both of them quite strange. Both of them in a sense became more famous after they were dead. More lauded now than when they were alive. Considered populist and perhaps not entirely to be taken seriously. And yet now seem to be two of the greater writers of the 20th century in this country. Both had odd relationships with the country itself. And they created these two great iconic characters - Willy Wonka and James Bond.

"So there was lots of back-and-forth going I felt. And they did of course come into contact, with Dahl writing the screenplay for Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and they knew each other. So they were drawn to each other as well. So it's interesting that there are parallels."

Sam Mendes also revealed that the "Bond 24" script is currently "being written." The director stressed the importance of a good script.

"For me, so much of it is about script. It's like the building of a boat - once the boat gets on the current, it's gone. If there's a hole in the boat, you're f**ked. So you've got to make sure there's no holes in the boat, and that's what we're doing now."

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is currently playing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, while "Bond 24" is scheduled to hit screens November 6, 2015.