Michael Fleming at Variety has learned one-time “Alias” screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec have been assigned the task of scripting the Mission: Impossible IV based on a story producer JJ Abrams wrote with them.
The assignment is viewed as the first official movement on the production following the mid-June announcement Mission: Impossible III director JJ Abrams and franchise star Tom Cruise were returning to produce the fourth installment. While it hasn’t been confirmed Abrams will direct or even that Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character would be the featured protagonist, Fleming’s sources tell him that Cruise’s character will certainly be involved in an onscreen capacity. Pic is aimed for an unknown 2011 release.
I don’t know about you, but I hope and fully expect Abrams to return as director with Cruise in the lead role. I loved Mission: Impossible III as well as enjoyed the first two, although the second one really does go a bit awry.
