Video: Sam Mendes on Skyfall: 'Daniel Craig reminds me of Sean Connery's James Bond' Sam Mendes talks about his own childhood fixation with the Bond films in the 90-second video, which was released today. The roots of my doing this Bond movie start way before anybody approached me because, like everyone else, I have my own personal relationship with Bond which began when I was I suppose about nine or 10 years old. I've always been a fan of the movies," he says. The director added that he was "genuinely blown away" by the 2006 remake of Casino Royale, saying that Daniel Craig's portrayal of Bond as "a real man in a real situation" reminded him of the feeling he got watching Sean Connery's performance as 007. Mendes says he wants to echo some of Casino Royale's scale and panache in Skyfall. "It still is possible to make a big, fabulous, glamorous, escapist movie and yet at the same time to say something about the world we're living in," he says. Mendes, who won an Oscar for the 1999 satirical drama American Beauty, also revealed that it is the first time he has shot a movie in the UK, adding: "I feel like the American years were my apprenticeship for doing a Bond movie." MGM, the studio behind Skyfall, will no doubt keep fans tantalised with a drip by drip release of new Bond material as it hopes profits from Skyfall, the 23rd Bond film, will help it bounce back after bankruptcy. The production of this film was put on hold for months and the last Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, garnered mixed reviews. Skyfall, which also stars Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Bérénice Marlohe, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw, will be released in cinemas on October 26 2012.