Cruise signs up for Mission: Impossible IV

source: variety.com

Ethan Hunt will ride again! Paramount Pictures have announced that Tom Cruise will star as the legendary super-spy in a fourth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Mission: Impossible IV will hit cinemas May 31st, 2011. It will go up against The Hangover 2 and the 2nd weekend of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Cruise will also produce the film alongside J.J. Abrams, director of the third installment of the series. The screenplay for Mission: Impossible IV has been written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, the duo who penned the screenplay for the third film based on Cruise and Abrams’ original idea.

Paramount and Cruise’s 14-year relationship came to an end in 2006, following the not-so-spectacular success of Mission: Impossible III. It looks as if the studio and the superstar have finally kissed and made up.

Abrams will not direct Mission: Impossible IV, as he will be busy with Star Trek 2 (another Paramount franchise). You could say the studio is on the … hunt … for a director.

You’re welcome.

Discuss: My adoration of Tom Cruise has been well documented throughout this blog, so I’ll hand it over to you. How do you feel about Cruise’s acting career? (Let’s keep the weird personal stuff out of it.)