Well now here’s a bit of news to carry us well into the weekend. Mr. Iron Giant, or should I better call him Mr. Incredible (aka Brad Bird) has been “officially” tapped to direct the next Mission: Impossible installment. Hey if this keeps up, Ethan Hunt could be the next James Bond…but don’t bet on it. For more on this, here’s an excerpt from Empire Online:
Since Tom Cruise decided to accept another fiendishly-difficult-but-let’s-face-it-not-quite-Impossible-or-there-would-be-no-movieMission, there’s been speculation as to who would direct the fourth outing in his spy series. Rumour suggested Brad Bird… Well, it’s no longer rumour: it’s Brad Bird.
As previously reported, Cruise – who is producing with part three’s creator, JJ Abrams – was considering both Bird and Blighty’s own Edgar Wright, but Mission: Impossible IV is officially going to The Incredibles writer/director.
Wright, who is still tied up with post-production on his hotly anticipated comic-book adaptation Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, is still on Cruise’s must-work-with list, though.
“I dig Edgar. Very nice guy, very smart, very talented, I’d really like to do something with him,” said Cruise, talking to Empire recently in Los Angeles. “I met Edgar on the set of Mission 3. Simon Pegg and those guys are hilarious. I love Shaun Of The Dead. It’s amazing. But we’re working with Brad right now. I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about it but everything’s signed… Brad is doing it.”
Um, we hope you were allowed to talk about it, Tom. The tape recorder was on, anyway. “The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille – Brad is enormously talented and JJ and I are having a blast, cranking away,” Cruise continued. “We’re having a lot of fun. I like working with people I just love hanging out with. You get to hang out and laugh and talk stories and movies and technology: what are we going to do?”
Mission: Impossible IV should hit theatres in 2011.
Brad Bird? Action? and now “live action”?? I’m so in!! But the other part of me says, “slow down, think about this“. While I don’t doubt Bird’s talent and vision, it all seems like too much of a paradigm shift. Animation to live action? I guess it makes little difference to Bird as he’s a great director who has vision and a great grasp of scope. Yet just short of shouting my approval from the roof-top, I’ll stay “conservatively optimistic”…for now at least. Admittedly it’s got me more than intrigued and I really can’t wait to see how this develops. How about you all? Excited for the “Birdman” to tackle Tom Cruise and their Impossible Mission?? Sorry I couldn’t help myself on that last bit:P
5 Comments
mill1924
“Impossible Mission” … Yeah, you almost had to do it, lol.
I’m interested to see how it turns out. I like the risk that both the studio and Bird are taking on this. It’s always fun to see a director that doesn’t belong in the genre take on a big gig, like Marc Webb and Spider-Man 4.
I hate to be a total nerd, but I say as long as JJ Abrams is involved, I’m there.
Dreher Bear (...Where The Buffalo Roam)
I’m not a big fan of the Mission Impossible films, but with Brad Bird behind the camera, it definitely peaked my interest.
Marc
I too have not been a huge fan of the series, but all you have to do is tell me that “Bird” is there, and I’ve already put aside my ticket money for opening night:)
Olive
I have to agree too, wasn’t a huge fan of the Mission Impossible franchise, partly because Tom Cruise is in it, but am quite intrigued by Bird’s involvement.
Marc
It’ll be neat to see how he translated from computer screen to big screen…but one thing’s for sure, he knows action. If it’s anything like The Incredibles, it will be EPIC:)