While Tom Cruise has always been a huge star, no movies have been quite as big for him as the Mission: Impossible franchise. The movies reached a new level of success when Christopher McQuarrie got involved and the writer/director has confirmed that he's back on board not just the next film in the franchise, but the next two. And it looks like he's hard at work.
Christopher McQuarrie posted to his Instagram a look at the "first sketches" for the next two Mission: Impossible films. Of course, the image is framed in such a way that we can't see much of anything about the sketches themselves. Still, fans will be excited to see that the franchises next two installments are on the way.
While the exact plan for the next two Mission: Impossible movies hasn't been revealed, the two movies were announced together, and they will be released about a year apart from each other. This means the two films are set to be shot back-to-back.
With the first film set for July of 2021, the project will likely be looking to begin shooting in about a year, so all the pre-production work, such as the script and storyboards, which Christopher McQuarrie is working on here, are being worked on now.
The collaboration between Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie covers nearly every movie that Cruise has made in the last decade. McQuarrie did some uncredited script work on Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol before being brought in to helm the next two installments.
McQuarrie has previously spoken about the immense pressure that comes from working on two movies at once. It sounds like he wasn't entirely sure anybody would go with the idea, but now that they have, he has to make it work.
And it really does seem like anything could happen in the new films. One early report has indicated that actors like Alec Baldwin and Henry Cavill, both of whom are currently dead in the Mission: Impossible franchise as far as we know, could make appearances in the new movies. Certainly, at this early stage anything could change, so even if this is being considered in may not end up happening, and one assumes it will be done with flashbacks if it happens at all.
Although. perhaps Ethan Hunt will need to put on a Henry Cavill mask at some point in order to trick some people who don't know he's dead. It would force Cavill to grow his infamous facial hair which would be excellent. Either way, if the rumor is true that this is even being considered, it shows that the next two Mission: Impossible films are willing to do almost anything.
Of course, the biggest question will be, what will Tom Cruise do to top himself in the next two film. He became the first actor to perform an actual HALO jump for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which he had to do multiple times. What exactly does one do to top that?
