The five-time 007 composer David Arnold revealed in an interview that it was not – as many had assumed – the commitment to the Olympics that meant he was not hired to score 007′s forthcoming adventure in Skyfall.

Cultbox caught up with the musician and asked him about missing the cut this time around:

“My availability wasn’t an issue,” Arnold says. “[The film's director] Sam Mendes wanted to continue his working relationship with Thomas Newman.”

“I would hate to be a composer foisted upon a director if the director would rather have someone else and I have been lucky that the five directors who I’ve worked with on the Bond movies chose to work with me.

“You have to afford each director the same right and I’ve never expected to be asked back just because I’d done the films previously.”

Mendes and Thomas Newman have a long working relationship, so it is understandable that the director wanted his close colleague.

About Skyfall – James Bond 23 (2012)

The new Bond movie will star Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Albert Finney and Judi Dench, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. The 007 screenplay will be written by regular James Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, working with John Logan (Gladiator & The Last Samurai). Director of American Beauty and Road To Perdition, Sam Mendes will be directing the new James Bond movie. MGM and Sony Pictures Entertainment in a joint statement on 2nd June 2011 announced that “Bond 23″ will go on release in the UK on Friday, 26th October, 2012 and in the USA on 9th November 2012. The first major announcement from EON Productions and Sony Pictures came on 3rd November 2011 in London when the principle cast was announced, along with a rough plot line. In Skyfall, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.