A while ago (like, May or something) it was confirmed that there would be another IMPOSSIBLE: MISSION with Tom Cruise as spy-guy and Brad Bird as director. What we’re hearing now, from places like Variety, is that the next movie will be more of a passing-of-the-torch type of deal, with Ethan Hunt taking a backseat to a new spy played by Jeremy Renner. If the movie did well and more sequels were demanded by the movie going public, those movies would star the Jeremy Renner character. The suits aren’t even sure if they’re going to use the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE name.
I guess this is what happens when your last few movies stink up the box-office; you’re kicked off of your own franchise to make room for the flavor of the month. Then they have to retitle your franchise as a way of burying the body so the smell doesn’t make the neighbors suspicious. Anyway, the article above uses a lot of studio-speak like “fresh perspective” and “different direction,” but my guess would be more of the same, only with one new face.
I also found it a little amusing that the article mentioned that the new movie wouldn’t pick up where the last one ended. It’s like the person who wrote it has never seen any of these movies. None of them pick up where the others left off. They were basically three different movies who happened to star the same main character.
