After months of speculuation, Sony Pictures and EON Productions announced today that Skyfall director Sam Mendes will return to helm the as-yet-untitled 24th installment in the James Bond franchise. 

Mendes’ statement:

“I am very pleased that by giving me the time I need to honour all my theatre commitments, the producers have made it possible for me to direct Bond 24. I very much look forward to taking up the reins again, and to working with Daniel Craig, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for a second time."

In the olden days of Connery, Moore, and more, it was not unusual for directors to guide the Bond franchise for years or even a decade at a time. Terence Young directed the first two Bonds, Dr. No and From Russia With Love, and Guy Hamilton made three sequential Bonds in the 1970s—Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die, and The Man With The Golden Gun. John Glen directed all the 1980s Bonds, from For Your Eyes Only to Licence To Kill. But Mendes will be the first man since Glen to helm two installments in a row. By sheer coincidence, Mendes’ Skyfall earned more than $1.1 billion worldwide, and is the eighth highest-grossing movie of all time.

Daniel Craig will return to star in his fourth Bond, and Skyfall screenwriter John Logan will return to pen his second Bond screenplay. (And yes all these “will return”s are a deliberate reference, thank you very much.) Bond 24 doesn’t have a title yet, but it does have a release date: October 23, 2015 in the U.K. and November 6, 2015 in the U.S.

[Deadline]