Mission: Impossible Returning With Back-to-Back Films

If you took Christopher McQuarrie’s just-posted tweet “Missions: Accepted” to mean that he’s returning to the action franchise, you were correct. Variety reports that the director of last year’s “Fallout” — which, with $790 million in box-office returns, is the franchise’s highest-grossing entry — is helming back-to-back sequels due in 2021 and 2022, respectively. McQuarrie and Tom Cruise will be spending a lot of time together over the next few years, as they’re also collaborating on the upcoming “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Read More:Tom Cruise Deserves an Oscar Nomination for ‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’

While the first four “Mission: Impossible” movies each boasted a different director — Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, and Brad Bird, respectively — McQuarrie has emerged as its main creative force. He wrote and directed “Fallout,” co-wrote and directed “Rogue Nation,” and will handle both duties on the two untitled sequels. His contributions to the series have been as popular with critics as they have with audiences, as “Fallout” received the warmest reviews in the franchise to date.

Read More:‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’ Review: Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie Deliver One of the Best Action Movies Ever Made

McQuarrie first came to wide attention for writing “The Usual Suspects,” for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay; his pre–”Mission: Impossible” directing credits are “The Way of the Gun” and “Jack Reacher,” with the latter marking his first collaboration with Cruise. (He also co-wrote “Edge of Tomorrow” and “The Mummy,” lest you doubt the extent of their working relationship.) The next two “M:I” sequels are expected to begin filming sometime this year.

Missions: Accepted#MissionImpossible

— Christopher McQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) January 14, 2019

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