Way back last November is was first reported that Christopher McQuarrie was in talks to direct Mission: Impossible 5. It’s taken a long time to sort things out, but now the man himself has revealed on Twitter that he’s taken the job, simply saying, ‘Mission: Accepted’.
Tom Cruise is already signed up for the movie, and it’s likely his influence that got McQuarrie onboard. Cruise and McQuarrie have a relationship that started with the 2008 historical drama Valkyrie, which Christopher wrote. More recently Tom starred in Jack Reacher, which McQuarrie wrote and directed. The filmmaker has also provided uncredited rewrites for Tom Cruise movies such as Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol and the upcoming The Edge Of Tomorrow, so he really does seem to be a bit of a fave with the star.
Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce signed up in May to write the movie, with reports then suggesting the movie was on an accelerated schedule as Cruise wants to shoot the movie this autumn.
The last Mission: Impossible movie, directed by Brad Bird, took nearly $700 million at the global box office, and with the likes of Brian De Palma, John Woo and JJ Abrams helming earlier instalments, McQuarrie has big shoes to fill.