Director McQuarrie may helm Cruise’s M:I 6

Tom Cruise

Christopher McQuarrie, writer-director of Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, will write the next movie in the Tom Cruise film series, and may direct it as well, VARIETY REPORTED.

Here’s an excerpt:

(Paramount) and reps for McQuarrie have declined to comment, but several sources with knowledge of the situation say talks are progressing towards a deal being closed, with one insider saying that the studio plans to get production up and running by next August.

Heretofore, Cruise’s Mission: Impossible films have come out at irregular intervals, with the five films spread over 19 years. The producer-star is now 53. While still in movie star shape, Cruise and Paramount have indicated they want a sixth installment sooner than later.

If McQuarrie returns as director, it would be a departure for the series. Each film has had a different director.

Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation generated worldwide box office of more than $682 million, including $195 million in the U.S. and Canada. The movie originally was scheduled to open on Dec. 25, but was moved up to July 31.

Mendes: 007 had to thread needle between Bourne, Marvel

SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond film, had to thread a needle between Jason Bourne and movies from Marvel Studios on the other, Sam Mendes said earlier this month in New York.

“It’s very tricky… to walk the knife edge between, you know, Bourne on the one hand, which is brilliant, especially when done by (director) Paul Greengrass, and Marvel on the other,” Mendes said during an appearance at TimesTalk, part of events held by The New York Times, which sells tickets for people to attend.

“Bond is in this very narrow…you’re threading the needle,” Mendes added. “You only have so many tools you can use.”

The director of SPECTRE and Skyfall also acknowledged specific homages in SPECTRE to earlier Bond movies (Live And Let Die in the pre-titles sequence) and From Russia With Love (train fight between Bond and Hinx on the train).

“But sometimes people see a snow sequence and say, ‘Ah, The Spy Who Loved Me.’ No, it’s just a snow sequence.”

You can view other comments from Mendes and Craig on this video below, which the Times uploaded to YouTube. Note: the closed captioning has a few mistakes, including “marble” for Marvel.

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