Cruise in Mission: Impossible IV
2010-02-10 09:13
Los Angeles - Paramount Pictures on Tuesday said Tom Cruise will star in a new Mission: Impossible movie set for release in 2011 and produced by Cruise and J.J. Abrams.
Cruise and Abrams last teamed up in 2006 for Mission: Impossible III, with Cruise in the role of super agent Ethan Hunt who battles bad guys and saves the world from evil.
The first two Mission: Impossible movies made a combined $1bn at global box offices. The third film's US box office reached $134m and was considered a mild disappointment by box office watchers, even though it raked in another $264m overseas proving Cruise's international appeal.
Also, Cruise's public image had been tarnished the preceding year by his staunch defence of his beliefs in Scientology and by an incident in which he jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch proclaiming his love for actor Katie Holmes.
Following Mission: Impossible III, Paramount cut its film production ties with Cruise, and the making of a fourth film in the series has been a question ever since.
But on Tuesday, Paramount said Cruise and Abrams, who made this past summer's smash hit Star Trek, dreamed up an original idea for a fourth film and were back together again.
"Tom and J.J. are great talents and we are excited to be working with them to re-launch this legendary franchise," Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Grey said in a statement.
Screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec will write the script, and a director has not yet been named.
