Mission: Impossible 6 To Shoot Next Summer, Says Tom Cruise

With Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation opening this week (and with reviews painting it as one of the best movies of the entire franchise), fans are naturally bound to start wondering what’s next for Mission: Impossible. Unlike other franchises, this one usually takes its sweet time between installments (it’s been four years since Ghost Protocol), and Cruise is already 54. Keeping with his current pace, Cruise would be prepping Mission: Impossible 6 for 2019, by which time he’ll be pushing 60 – that’s a pretty tall order for any star, even him.

But last night, during The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Cruise revealed that he’s already hard at work fleshing out the story for Mission: Impossible 6, with an eye to shooting as soon as next summer (skip to the six-minute mark for the discussion of a Rogue Nation sequel):

That’s the fastest turn-around time for any movie in the whole franchise, which would suggest Paramount and company are already putting the pieces into place to hit the ground on the sixth installment even before final grosses come in. Cruise’s age probably has something to do with it – the star is renowned for doing all his own stunts, which is just going to get trickier the older he gets.

If they stick to that fast-track, Mission: Impossible 6 could conceivably hit theaters in 2017. Now, the question becomes, who’s going to direct it? Cruise has stated in the past that he likes working with a new director on every Mission: Impossible, and the only common thread between the helmers (Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird and McQuarrie) is that each of them tackled the project as their first big, live-action studio blockbuster. Could Cruise enlist a mostly unproven up-and-comer and groom them to sit in the director’s chair?

It’s certainly possible – but then again, McQuarrie did a killer job on this one, and he previously worked with Cruise on Jack Reacher, so the two clearly have a solid working relationship that could work in the helmer’s favor when it comes time to handpick the franchise’s next director.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation opens this Friday.