Seeing as Sam Mendes has quite conclusively rebuffed their offers to return for more, it seems that James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have approached Chris Nolan with an offer to direct the next episode.

According to The Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye, who has a great track record with Bond stories, “informal talks” with Nolan and his people are underway.

Right at the moment, Nolan is gearing up to start production on his wormhole-hopping drama, Interstellar, and the Bond gig would likely have to see him double up with near back-to-back projects, both of which would be on quite the epic scale. This alone could very easily dissuade him.

And then there are these recurring stories about Bond 24 and 25 forming a diptych, something that appears to be echoed at the end of Bamigboye’s report:

Mendes told me that there would be at least a year to 18 months of pre-production preparation and then six months of filming involved in Bond 24, and the producers want to shoot the follow-up soon after.

Even if Nolan does agree to the gig, it could be some time before we know about it. Interstellar will start shooting in the coming months, and post production is likely to take him very close to its November 2014 release date. Will EON Productions wait? Will they try to book ahead secure Nolan’s services for a future Bond film now? Or will they just move one, for the time being at least, and look for another candidate?