There has been an update on progress on that other big Paramount franchise JJ Abrams is working on. Paramount has announced that the Abrams-produced Mission Impossible IV will go into production this summer and Tom Cruise will be back as both producer and star. The goal is for the film to be out by the summer of 2011. Details below.
Abrams and Cruise bringing back MI in 2011
JJ Abrams first feature film as a director was Mission: Impossible III, in 2006, which he also co-wrote with Star Trek’s Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. That film brought Abrams to Paramount, which led to his signing a multi-year deal and eventually producing and directing the 2009 Star Trek movie. Abrams is set to produce (and possibly direct) the next Trek, but before that he will be producing the fourth film in the Mission Impossible series.
Today Paramount officially announced the Mission Impossible IV film, which will be produced by Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions and will star Cruise. The film will be released Memorial Day 2011. Screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec are attached to write the script, from an original idea by Cruise and Abrams. The studio, Cruise and Abrams are in now the process of identifying a director for the film.
In the statement Paramount CEO Brad Grey said:
Tom and J.J. are great talents and we are excited to be working with them to re-launch this legendary franchise
According to Deadline Hollywood (and contrary to some earlier reports) the new film is said to be "very much of an Ethan Hunt pic with Cruise as the main character." Cruise seems ready for more spy action, as he has been spotted over recent days doing his own stunts for the film he is currently shooting, Knight & Day.
Cruise spotted this week shooting "Knight & Day"
Filming on MI:4 is said to begin this summer. This appears to be Abrams next big film project as a producer. He is currently in post-production on Morning Glory, the Harrison Ford led comedy due out this July. Abrams has also expressed interest in possibly directing another film in 2010, based on a script he has recently written, but so far there have been no new announcements on that project.
Abrams is confirmed to be producing the Star Trek sequel, which will be released June 29, 2012. Development of the story and script from Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof is still in the early stages. The Trek sequel should go into pre-production this year. Production on the next Star Trek is likely to kick off in the spring or summer of 2011. Abrams has said that ‘in theory’ he should be available to direct the next Trek, but no decision has yet been made.
Not a bad thing, the MI films are very good and # 3 was the best of them.
I’ve only seen the first one, and I have to say I was not happy that they made Jim Phelps out as a traitor.
I hope they keep the team dynamic that made M:I:III stand out.
All were a ripoff of the MI name and bore no relationship to the original show. Three was so over-the-top with action – plot? what plot?
They need to take their time and do it right this time.
M:I:III was a gigantic improvement over M:I:II, but I thought M:I:I was the best of all just because of its twisty, ludicrous plot and slow burn of emotion. Intense Cruise > Screaming, Running Cruise >>>> Kung Fu Cruise.
4
MI III was an ok movie, not great but it was better than MI II
2
I hated that about the first one. The films are MI in name only.
Is JJ Abrams a better writer or director?
I do admit I am not his biggest fan but was wanting to know.
Your being glib.
he did things as a director that were cool.
return to the awesomeness of Mission Impossible 1 !
Part 1 was my favorite, I consider part 2 and 3 to be a tie for close 2nd.
I just love watching Ethan Hunt do those impossible things. Part 1’s noc list theft scene was amazing. Breaking into the CIA and stealing a list of secret agents names and locations, c’mon, that’s awesome.
I wonder what awaits in part 4? I hope they don’t kill off his wife, gosh that would suck. Sides that was already done in Casino Royale, with the death of his first lover. I would love to see Ethan playing poker a cool mission impossible style sequence that you want to see 10 times before it felt it was enough.
*Bonds first lover
@2 OMG you ruined it for me
J/K
Is that Oprah’s couch he’s jumping off of?
:-)
Ugh can they just reboot the MI franchise so the nutcase aint involved in it anymore :)
III was the easily the best and closest in spirit to the show. The first 2 are messes, though admittedly for different reasons. Glad to hear JJ is back for IV if it means we get another cracking good time (and another villain on equal footing with Phillip Seymour Hoffman). I
“Obama = Peter Principle” is okay, but I can’t say TC is [weird]?
[actual British term censored]
The M:I films are OK, but I should hope that M:I IV will be better then Knight and Day, which just looks horrid…
Just can’t get into the MI films. Saw the first one and hated what they did to Jim Phelps.
Uhhhhhhhhh…
Ok… here’s how it be goin’ in pre-reproduction:
TOM CRUISE: Oh, I’m a big fat muffin that loves to eat
I’m a big fat muffin that has no feet
But most of all
I’m a big fat muffin that loooooooooooves to explode. (And then I do.)
JJ: Uhhhhhh… Tom…. You don’t have to audition for this part. I mean, you have it. Hey, uh, didn’t you steal that scene from a “WKRP” script?
TOM CRUISE: You’re glib, JJ. You’re glib.
BND: Arrrrrrrrr… So, iffa’ I put this explodin’ message on me bom and then light tha’ fuse whilst goin’ “dum dum dum DUM DUM dum dum dum DUM DUM” do I getta’ tha’ part? Ohhhhhh… me burnin’ bom!
TOM CRUISE: I feel the need… the need to walk away from this.
JJ: Gawd… I should forget about this MI film and just go make Star Trek 2…
BND: Tha’ Wrath O’ Khan?!!!!! Oh, I be meanin’ ta’ see that! Iffa’ I have ta’ wait until 2012, tha’ world may not be here though. Mayan it be, Mayan it not be… Que sera, sera… whatever ‘ill be ‘ill be, could marry a chimpanzee… see Chris Pine stealin’ me oak tree… (like tha’ man needs more wood)
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
As a movie franchise, the “M:I” series doesn’t really hold a candle to other spy franchises i.e. the Bourne Trilogy and, to some extent, James Bond. The first one was good, but it was a far cry from what made the original show exciting. The second one was absolutely horrid, but the third one was probably the best of the trilogy since it had great action sequences, good character development, a lot of suspense, and better pacing. That movie could’ve served as the perfect bookend to the trilogy since I didn’t see it going anywhere else. I’ll just have to see how this one turns out, but I think they’re beating a dead horse.
Tried to get through MI:3 back when Trek was in production, to get a feel for the team’s collective style. Couldn’t get through it, but I placed the blame squarely on Cruise, as a note of optimistic hope for Trek (and just because, really, his attempts to imitate human emotion made it plain he didn’t bother to witness any as research). Sigh.
20. BND: Dude, you made my day! YARRRRR!!!!!!
I agree with everyone who said that the M:I franchise lost them when the very first movie made Jim Phelps out to be a traitor. That was a total bullsh*t plot device to make “Ethan Hunt” the hero.
I also agree with all who said the movies are M:I in name only. They bear no resemblence to the original show, which was creative, original and awesome.
After all his weirdness in recent years and that POS that was “War of the Worlds”, I doubt I’ll ever see a Tom Cruise movie again.
@BND: …came across some very interesting 2012 stuff today…
confirmed: W BUSH = MABUS the third A.C.
(Bush is dyslexic. turn the M upside down. Turn the A upside down and move it to the end.)
Can’t get into the Mission films at all. And as others have said, Tom Cruise… meh. Don’t waste your time, JJ.
I know I’m in the minority here, but I loved MI2. I am an action junkie, and Woo always delivers. Just my 2 cents.
27 I’m with you on MI2. I thought that MI3 was totally derivative of MI2 because he had to steal a virus again and the woman he loved was in danger. Perhaps if MI3 had been written or shown before MI2 it would have been better, but MI3 just seemed a little too much like MI2 to me. MI2 was really cool to me when it came out when I was a teenager and I even cut school to see it opening day. MI3 had potential, but I just couldn’t get past certain things in the movie and I kept thinking what they could have done differently to make it a better movie.
I don’t really like TC. So I don’t usually get into his movies.
I am not Herbert-
Thanke’ and… My, how fascinatin’ like. Should I be a’worried?
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
M:I:III was the best of the three, glad Abrams is involved (but unfortunately not directing). What made it better was it was most like the original series with the teamwork…at the same time it was a big-screen episode of *Alias* with Tom Cruise in the lead rather than Jennifer Garner (and with Simon Pegg being the Marshall Flinkman of the group).
They gotta use ILM!
I hope Martin Landau *and* Leonard Nimoy are in it.
Was watching some old MI episodes on TV and realized they have not done a classic con yet in the films, where they nab somebody and make them think they are living in reality when everything around them is fabricated, in order to get some bit of information. Imagine the possibilities today. Don’t think it has been done yet in any of the three films. Would love to see that again.
#32, per my #33, one was the William Shatner episode where he plays an old gangster they make think he’s having some kind of time-travel-like flashback re-living an incident in the 30s in order for him to reveal where a body is buried.
Perhaps they should find a way to use William Shatner in MI:4 rather than trying to shoe-horn him into an alternate Star Trek universe where he does not belong (as well a Nimoy, Landau, Bain, Graves and even Peter Lupus).
#34
William Shatner should totally be the villain. If they cast him, his evil plan could involve making America save money on hotel rooms and car rentals.:D
MI2 was garbage. It was a lesser John Woo over the top love story (mostly between Woo and Cruise). MI3 I think captured the dynamics of the MI team and other than the fact that it was more action and humor than suspense I think it was Iclose to the TV show with good dialogue.
I think the comparisons people above make to MI2 are quite superficial.
I also think because they really created an ensemble cast, MI3 can easily transition from a Tom Cruise vehicle to a Tom Cruise owned property. I can see that it’s in Cruise’s interest to headline (at least this one) but I would hope he is smart enough the realize that making it a Rhys-Meyers vehicle or an ensemble with stronger story lines around someone else will make it easier for him to keep the revenue stream alive when he is too old for this S$#t.
MI1 is a DePalma action film using the mythos of MI to distract the same way he uses other tricks. In that context, it’s not an “MI” film for the MI fans but a DePalma film for people who’ve seen MI or at least know who Jim Phelps was. If MI1 turned you off, I’d suggest seeing MI3 and just assuming MI1 was just a dream sequence or never happened if you need to and Jim Phelps is off in retirement somewhere bouncing a grandkid on his knee.
British Naval Dude….did you think that was actually FUNNY? Don’t quit your day job.
Meh to the whole MI business.
Now that is something that needs a reboot, preferably without Mr. Cruise.
If they have to make it, it would be nice if they got Martin Landau and Leonard Nimoy to show up in some meaningful way.
I would prefer JJ concentrate on making the next Star Trek, with more depth/meaning/message (without losing the excitement) and fewer lens flares please.
-‘Trick
Is he finally going to take down Xenu in this one?
That intergalactic jerk has it coming!
I thought that MI3 was an interesting foreshadowing of the humanity Abrams brings to the massive action-spectacle genre. You see it in the scene where Ethan Hunt is running away from a bomb and the explosion, while not killing him, actually blows him sideways into something. Very painful. Even better is the scene where the ace super-spy hurtles himself onto an office building in Shanghai: the key there is the tiny moan of suppressed agony. I laughed about to bust!
Which brings us to Trek09, which brings us the unusual spectacle of an uber-cute, studly leading man spending most of his screen time being punched, slapped, injected with highly allergenic medicine, caught in his underpants, reprimanded, and otherwise humiliated. Which he deserves, ’cause he’s kind of a douche! Yet, a genius and a winner. That’s an interesting take on the hero.
ooooh…..Nimoy in MI4….heres guessing that this could be a distinct possibility…..
Im a fan of Tom, but he may not like me, Im a Free Zone Scientologist. I hope his future acting reflects his abilities as an actor and isnt an advertisment of DM’s rubbish, Tom if your reading you know what Im talking about.
P.S. I have yet to view any MI film yet
Tyto pjky jsou vhodn, mm dobrou zkuenost s HomeCredit pjkou.
Dear lord, Abrams. Please stop. Please. Just…Stop. And TOM, I oughta hit you…