Christopher McQuarrie is returning to Tom Cruise’s death-defying franchise, signing on to write and direct the next two films in the series, according to Paramount Pictures.
Cruise additionally tweeted that the next two “Mission: Impossible” films will arrive in summer of 2021 and summer of 2022.
The films are expected to shoot back-to-back, in an attempt to capitalize on the success of the most recent installment, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” which McQuarrie directed. That film, in which Cruise reprised his role of Ethan Hunt while one-upping the stunts and sets to new heights, brought in $791.1 million worldwide on a reported budget of $178 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
McQuarrie first took the reins of the franchise in 2015 with “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” which pulled in $682.7 million worldwide.
Cruise, who broke his ankle doing stunts on the last film, is expected to return as IMF agent Hunt in the next film. He is currently shooting the follow up to ’80s hit “Top Gun.”
McQuarrie and Cruise have worked together on a number of projects the filmmaker either wrote or directed, including “The Mummy,” “Jack Reacher,” “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Valkyrie.”
McQuarrie and Cruise are both repped by CAA.