In the past I have reported about pre-production news pertaining to Mission: Impossible 4, and now some things may have changed. Many of you know that Tom Cruise recently starred in the horrible Knight and Day with the aging Cameron Diaz. I saw the movie and I personally thought it was the worst film I have seen this year. I despised this movie so much mostly because the action sequences were so ridiculous they make Lindsey Lohan's behavior seem clean cut. For my full review of the waste of space that was Knight and Day, check it out here.
Cruise's role as the bankable star in Knight and Day coupled with the film's lackluster performance at the box office, only $61 million domestically, could have thrown a wrench into Paramount Pictures plan to proceed with the current Mission: Impossible 4 script. Word is the script recently turned in by Alias writers Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec for the fourth installment is pretty good. But with Knight and Day being such a failure, will that affect Paramount's decision to green light the project?
Deadline has the scoop:
I hear the script that came in is very good, but the studio is still trying to figure out the budget as well as Cruise’s role in light of the lackluster Knight and Day grosses. There’s talk that Tom’s character will mentor a young operative this time out if the pic proceeds.
Paramount originally signed Cruise to reprise his role as Ethan Hunt and again pose as the centerpiece for the Mission: Impossible franchise. It seems now they might be getting cold feet like a nervous groom on his wedding day. This project is still very much in pre-production with the budget, casting, and other key roles still needing to be determined; so maybe this is just a rumor. Even so, Cruise possibly being a mentor figure as opposed to the star is not something that I would think the Scientology buff would take lightly. That would be a hit to any actor's ego, especially one of the most recognizable faces of all time. After seeing Knight and Day and considering the film's box office flop, I do not think blame can be placed solely on Cruise. I do blame him for being dumb enough to star in the film, or foolish enough to listen to his agent telling him Knight and Day would be a solid career move. The screenplay was terrible and littered with nothing but mindless action. Shame on Cruise for picking the project, but Knight and Day sucked for many more reasons than him being the lead role. However, the movie industry is a business and it is all about green numbers (profits). That said, is the aging Cruise still a bankable enough star to headline a big budget movie like Mission: Impossible 4? My answer is yes.
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