In the immortal words of one Buffy Anne Summers..."Add it up, it all spells Duh."
Deadline claims that Skyfall director Sam Mendes is currently in talks with Sony Pictures and MGM to return for the 24th James Bond film, the fourth starring Daniel Craig in the role. This should surprise no one, considering that Skyfall brought in over $1.1 billion in worldwide box office, becoming the top-grossing James Bond movie of all time.
The news dismisses reports from March that Mendes wouldn't return as director due to prior commitments with his West End launch of a stage musical based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, it seems Mendes and Bond producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli resumed discussions, apparently with the intention to hold production on Bond 24 until next year after Mendes' theater commitments have ended.
Other names have been previously mentioned, of course, ranging from Inception director Christopher Nolan to Ang Lee, Shane Black and David Yates. Skyfall ended with Bond's supporting cast of a new M (Ralph Fiennes), Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) firmly set in place for a new era, so it certainly makes sense that Mendes would want to follow up with his MI6 team.
As for the release date of Bond 24, Skyfall was released roughly a year after full production began. If Mendes begins production by summer or fall of next year, we could see Bond 24 by November of 2015, three years after Skyfall.