QUICK TAKES - June 19, 2009

Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams have signed on to produce a fourth installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise for Paramount. Abrams directed Cruise’s last outing as covert operative Ethan Hunt in 2006’s “Mission: Impossible III.”

Though they have set 2011 as a target release date, it’s still unknown if Cruise will star again or if Abrams will return to direct. According to studio spokeswoman Katie Martin Kelley, Cruise and Abrams are attached only as producers at this point.

It would mark a reunion for Cruise and Paramount after the studio cut the actor loose from a long-term development deal in 2006.