'Mission: Impossible 5': Tom Cruise collaborator McQuarrie to direct

‘Mission: Impossible 5’: Tom Cruise collaborator McQuarrie to direct

By Rebecca Keegan

Aug. 5, 2013 12 AM PT

Christopher McQuarrie, a regular Tom Cruise collaborator, will direct the star in the fifth “Mission: Impossible” movie, both actor and director announced via Twitter on Monday.

“Mission: Accepted” McQuarrie tweeted, which quickly got a retweet from Cruise trumpeting, “It’s Confirmed!”

McQuarrie, who won an Oscar for his 1995 “The Usual Suspects” screenplay, has a professional history with Cruise -- he wrote and produced Cruise’s 2008 historical drama “Valkyrie,” directed him in last year’s modestly successful crime film “Jack Reacher” and adapted the novel “All You Need Is Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka for Cruise’s upcoming action movie “Edge of Tomorrow,” which the two promoted together at Comic-Con International in San Diego last month.

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The “Mission: Impossible” movies have represented the biggest hits of Cruise’s career, with the fourth film, 2011’s “Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol” from director Brad Bird, grossing nearly $700 million worldwide and winning over critics as well.

McQuarrie is an unusual choice to take the reins of the big-budget spy franchise, however -- besides “Jack Reacher,” his only other film as a director is the low-budget 2000 crime drama “The Way of the Gun.”

After Brian DePalma and John Woo directed the first two “Mission: Impossible” movies, respectively, some unconventional directors have worked on the franchise -- though already successful in TV, J.J. Abrams made his feature directorial debut with the third film and Bird’s only features as director had been animated before taking over the fourth.

“I began producing the films with the goal that a different director with his own vision would make each one,” Cruise said in a statement. “Chris is an extraordinary filmmaker who will deliver the heart-pounding action and thrills that audiences around the world have come to expect from the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise.”

“Iron Man 3” co-writer Drew Pearce is writing the script for the next “Mission: Impossible,” which does not yet have a release date or a title.

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