It’s always been supposed that while Tom Cruise has signed up for Mission: Impossible IV, Paramount has been looking at ways to ensure the franchise can continue on without him. Indeed, there were even reports that the studio, slightly concerned about Tom’s current earning power at the box office, ordered some of the supporting roles beefed up, both to ensure a succession was set up and that it wasn’t completely the Cruise show.
However this has never been officially confirmed, with the only news being that Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner has been brought on board to play a major role that will be almost the equal of Tom’s. The presumption is that he’s the man that Paramount is looking at to continue the M:I money train after Cruise departs.
Now the actor himself has confirmed that this is the idea, although even he’s not 100% sure what will happen after Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, which is shooting now. The actor told MTV, ‘Its a franchise to potentially take over. I cant predict the future and what they want, but thats certainly the idea… I cant really go into the details of the script, because thats still evolving Its Toms baby. Hes the engine behind the thing. What happens after that, well see.’
So it basically sounds as if the franchise is Renner’s, assuming Ghost Protocol makes enough cash and Tom doesn’t decide to hang onto it, as the only thing left that people actually want to see him doing.