Writer-directorChristopher McQuarrieknocked it out of the park withMission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the fifth film in the long-running spy franchise famous for puttingTom Cruisethrough all manner of insane stunts (he held his breath for six minutes andhung off the side of a moving planeforRogue Nation). McQuarrie’s take on the franchise was rich with homage and iconography, an excellent blend of humorous and pulse-pounding, and delivered some exceptional, massive action set-pieces.
In a piece of great news, it looks like McQuarrie may return to write and directMission Impossible 6, which will see Cruise return in the lead with a possible returnRogue NationstandoutRebecca Ferguson.Varietyreports that McQuarrie is in negotiations with Paramount to return as both writer and director of the next sequel. That would be a pretty major shakeup for the franchise, which has never had a director helm more than one installment. Chronologically, the previous directors wereBrian De Palma,John Woo,J.J. AbramsandBrad Bird, all of whom brought their idiosyncratic flourishes the exploits of Ethan Hunt and the IMF. If McQuarrie indeed returns for the next installment, he’s a perfect pick as arguably the first director who managed to seamlessly merge all the goal posts and highlights of the previous film, which varied pretty significantly from director to director. The movie alsomade a whole bunch o' money, so that doesn’t hurt.
It certainly helps that McQuarrie and Cruise have a good working relationship, and indeed, both have openly spoken about their desire and plans to continue working together. Cruise has proven himself a loyal actor who often re-teams with his favorite collaborators. McQuarrie previously directed Cruise onJack Reacherand penned the script for theDoug Liman-directedEdge of Tomorrow. When McQuarrie opted out of returning to helmJack Reacher: Never Go Back,Edward Zwick(who previously directed Cruise onThe Last Samurai) stepped into the role.
Cruise, ever the workaholic, recently wrapped his second collaboration with Liman, the drug smuggling actionerMena, is currently in production onJack Reacher 2and hopes to squeeze in one more collaboration with Liman, thelunar heist filmLuna Park, before heading off to film Mission: Impossible 6 next summer. Variety states that Paramount aims to have production onMI6up and running by Augst 2016, an unusually fast turnaround for the franchise which has previously had somewhere between 4-6 years between installments.
I’ve made no secret ofmy love for McQuarrie’s spin on the style and canon ofMission Impossible, so I’m thrilled he’s in discussions to return. What about you guys? Would you be happy to see McQuarrie at it again or were you looking forward to seeing another director put his stamp on the franchise? Sounds off in the comments.
