After months of speculation that he was the man for the job, Christopher McQuarrie has finally confirmed that he will be the latest in line of directors to helm Tom Cruise‘s Ethan Hunt on an impossible mission. He tweeted the simple “Mission: Accepted” earlier today.
Cruise dropped out of the Guy Ritchie remake THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. starring Armie Hammer to fast-track MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5 which is currently on track for a 2014 release. McQuarrie directed Cruise in last year’s JACK REACHER and also wrote the screenplay for VALKYRIE starring Cruise. McQuarrie’s career as a screenwriter goes all the way back to Bryan Singer‘s brilliant THE USUAL SUSPECTS.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL was a huge hit from director Brad Bird who many lobbied to return for the fifth film. Instead, Bird went on to TOMORROWLAND leaving the door open for Christopher McQuarrie. While JACK REACHER underperformed, it still did well enough to warrant a potential sequel and gave McQuarrie the credibility to take on such a monumental project like MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5.
While I tolerated JACK REACHER, I don’t think McQuarrie brings anything that spectacular to the table as a director. Yes, he is a talented writer, but nothing wowed me about his filmmaking skills. It will also be a huge challenge to tackle the excellent job Brad Bird did on the fourth film. Do you guys think he has the chops?