Mission Impossible 4 in development?

[Vinata]

Hey guys!


I've heard that Mission Impossible 4 in in development...

Tom Cruise was on the popular SMAP SMAP program in Japan, and when asked about the Mission Impossible franchise he revealed that he has started work on the fourth installment…he’s working on the story right now. He also commented that during his visit here he’d been thinking about how to stage a big action sequence in downtown Tokyo..dunno if he was just being polite, but sounds like a cool setting for the series, what?

If this is true I might scream… in horror. I thought the first Mission Impossible was okay, but not amazing. MI:2 was my favorite. I loved the story, loved the action, and most importantly loved John Woo’s direction. MI:3 was alright. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I really think the franchise has peaked. If Cruise uses this as a means to relaunch his box office dominance he’s going to need more than a resuscitated franchise to do so. He’ll have to compete with the likes of his good friend Will Smith, which won’t be an easy feat...

[Baker]

With the Paramount Pictures / Tom Cruise bitter divorce now official, the studio is looking to make another Mission: Impossible movie without the big star who started it all.

Wait, wasn't one of the "financial disappointment" of M:I:II one of the few reasons Paramount gave for dumping Cruise?

As Mesntioned by ThisIsLondon the whole scenario is :

The firm is determined to keep the lucrative series alive after Mission Impossible:III took £212million at the box office, with the previous episode taking £290 million.

An insider told London Lite: "MI:IV will not include Cruise's character, agent Ethan Hunt.

They're considering a brief mention, saying Hunt retired to live a safe life with his new wife.

"They're set on Brad taking over as a gutsy new head operative who puts together his own unique team of specialists."

Sources say Paramount is prepared to do whatever it takes to get Pitt on board, and is even willing to make him the highest-paid movie star in history, with a salary topping £21 million.

Cruise and Paramount ended their 14-year relationship last month, with chairman Sumner Redstone blaming Cruise's controversial behaviour for the split.

"It's nothing to do with his acting ability, he's a terrific actor," Redstone told the Wall Street Journal.

"But we don't think that someone who commits creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot. As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."

Sources cite Cruise's bizarre antics - such as the infamous "sofa dance" on the Oprah Winfrey chat show - and his links to the Church Of Scientology as factors in why he and the studio parted company.

They say that with Cruise now off the lot, Pitt - whose production company Plan B is based at Paramount - is clearly the biggest star with a deal at the studio.

Plan B recently won a heated bidding war against Leonardo DiCaprio's production company for Max Brooks' upcoming horror novel, World War Z. "Brad is showing the studio what he's made of," added the source. "Everyone is very impressed.

"Everything's being kept top secret, but they're offering Brad a deal no one could possibly refuse. There's no doubt, this would make Brad Pitt the biggest and highest paid star in the world."

[FaMe FacToR]

I could not make out much of the plot of "Mission: Impossible III" but I will say, despite Cruise's increasingly negative personal clout, this movie is entertaining and thrill-happy and Tom Cruise makes a convincing hero. For myself, that is good enough.

Cruise once again plays Ethan Hunt, a devil-may-care, fearless IMF agent who seems willing to settle for domesticity with a Katie Holmes- lookalike (Michelle Monaghan). He is devoted to her and they are engaged, until he gets a call about locating a certain IMF agent in peril, his protege Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell who is cast against type ). The agent is rescued in one elaborate set-up, but she also has a time-release explosive charge in her head (guess who else will suffer that same fate). Eventually, the contraption of a plot involves some MacGuffin known as the Rabbit's Foot that must be stolen from a sadistic villain, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). I wish I could say more about the villain but there is not much more - he is evil incarnate and wishes great harm to Ethan and his fiancee. The Rabbit's Foot is stolen and now the villain expects Hunt to return it to him or else the fiancee dies.

I'll make it brief: "Mission: Impossible III" works. It is lightning- paced, despite a fairly slow build-up, it has plenty of high-tech action scenes, explosions delivered on cue, lots of gunfire and machine gunfire, and some canny disguises and double-crosses (the latter of which one is fairly predictable). There is a terrifically nailbiting sequence where Ethan Hunt is suspended between two towers, slides in and out of them like a cat, uses a parachute and is almost hit by a truck. And Tom Cruise is as strong and empathetic as before - the Sincere Hero is still alive and well and Cruise ably performs this part to the hilt.

The big disappointment may be Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is fairly one-note in his acting here (not his fault since it is a one-note, underwritten part). He is threatening only because he tells us so (as in the opening scene), but I don't think he is terribly convincing. Some other actor, perhaps more experienced in cinematic villainy, might have taken this role and made it a scenery-chewing show- stopper.

If nothing else, "Mission: Impossible III" is an improvement over the hazardous-to-your-health "Mission: Impossible II." This movie is more fun, more energetic, more alive and preposterous as hell. Not a great movie and not deserving of any list of the best action films of all time, but that is okay. It is Cruise jumping around the screen with his great ease, instead of jumping around in a couch.

[Krupa]

That Variety reports Tom Cruise is currently in talks to star in the next Mission: Impossible movie is a surprise for several reasons. Not least among these is that Paramount cut its relationship with Cruise two years ago, blaming him for smaller box office returns for Mission: Impossible III. Then there is the fact that these days Cruise's biggest fan is himself. But if they can overlook his issues, then perhaps so can we. At least, that's what the studio is hoping.

"I consider Tom Cruise a great actor and a good friend," said Viacom boss Sumner Redstone, the very person who broke up Cruise's long relationship with the studio. "And if Paramount decides—and they will make the decision—to move ahead with him, I will not object." Redstone was even seen dining with Cruise back in March, implying that the company's ban on his work is ending.

Not that Cruise is 100% confirmed for the part. Not at all, actually. It is his franchise, though, and a Mission: Impossible film without him may be an even worse idea than one with him as the star. Since Cruise's post-Mission: Impossible III work has been been only a role in Lions for Lambs, it could also just be that Cruise has finally lowered his price.