While it was a little disappointing to hear that Brad Bird would not be returning to do another MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film, I completely agree with his statement about having different directors:
“I think that one of the things that’s fun about the series is that they always pull in a different director and try to get a different kind of take on the premise. I’d probably be open to looking at it, but I think that part of one of the successes of the franchises is that they’re always reassessing it with a new director. That was one of the things that attracted me to it. It’s not a franchise where it was about dismissing your style in order to get the style of the franchise. It was more about [having] each director influence the franchise. Because whatever you think about the films, they don’t look like they were made by the same person. They’re the same premise and the same lead actor and all of that, but they feel like four distinctly different movies, style-wise.”
Without Bird, things are moving on according to Tom Cruise, who spoke about his experience with the franchise and future with it in an interview with Total Film, “I started Mission: Impossible hoping I could make many of them. It’s a character that I can grow with. At that time it was the most expensive film in the history of Paramount Pictures, and the first film I was producing. It’s been pretty exciting. I’ll make a bunch of those. I’ll make as many as people want to see… because they’re very challenging, and so much fun to make.”
When asked about ideas on the plot and set-pieces, Cruise said, “We’re already working on different images. Talking conceptually. I love traveling around promoting different movies because I’m always looking at different places, and I always walk around to see the city. I look at architecture, subways… coming up with different sequences.”