Christopher McQuarrie

He’s not even done with the next Mission: Impossible movie yet, but Christopher McQuarrie already has his next movie lined up. He’s just signed on to develop and direct The Chameleon for Netflix, based on the new Yorker feature of the same name by David Grann, about a French con man who was a serial impersonator of missing kids. No, seriously. This is real.

Look, we’re already pretty pumped for the next Mission: Impossible sequel — with Christopher McQuarrie at the helm, both Rebecca Ferguson and Michelle Monaghan on tap, and all this talk of Tom Cruise performing his most daring stunt yet, we’re more than adequately excited. All those sneak peeks McQuarrie & Co. have been sharing from the set of the sixth installment are just a series of added bonuses.

Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt won’t be the only familiar face returning for Mission: Impossible 6: Michelle Monaghan’s Julia, Hunt’s wife and a Mission: Impossible mainstay from the third film all the way to Ghost Protocol, is coming back to the series.

Universal is going dark.

Are we still doing #SquadGoals? Because if so, I think I’ve found mine. Earlier today, Mission: Impossible 6 director Christopher McQuarrie posted a photo of himself hanging out with series stalwart Tom Cruise and dashing newcomer Henry Cavill against the Eiffel Tower, raising the bar for family vacation photos everywhere. If I worked in the photo department at the local Walgreens and saw this in someone’s film roll, I would put a sign up on the door that said “No More Eiffel Tower Photos” for everyone to see. What’s the point? They’ll never be this cool.

Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie seems to have developed a pretty strong working relationship with Tom Cruise. In addition to working with the actor on the highly regarded Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation movie, McQuarrie had previously directed Cruise in Jack Reacher while also serving as either a producer or screenwriter on Jack Reacher 2 and Cruise’s upcoming Universal Monsters movie The Mummy. When it comes to actor-director pairings, there’s no denying McQuarrie and Cruise are one of the more impressive duos at work these days.

To understand why I’m more excited than most for The Mummy, it’s important to make a list of all the things that I’m a sucker for. Tom Cruise movies? Check. Trailers or commercials that use the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint it Black’ as a musical cue? Check-check. Movies where soldiers fight monsters? Check-check-check. In fact, if you do the math, the only thing on my Hollywood wishlist that the second The Mummy trailer doesn’t deliver is a John Wick-style gunfight, and there’s still time. One of those might still find its way into the final movie.

2015’s remake of old-school espionage show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a rollicking good time, but more than that, it was an audition reel for its stars Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill. Hammer brought his marksmanship and high-speed combat skills to Ben Wheatley’s upcoming shoot-‘em-up Free Fire, and now part-time Superman Cavill has also landed a new role befitting his ultra-smooth fighting prowess. He’ll have to run, jump, most likely get shirtless, and appear alongside Tom Cruise in what just might be his most dangerous assignment yet.

Remember those few days last August where Tom Cruise’s salary negotiations had shut down production on Mission: Impossible 6? For a moment there, it looked as though one of the best action movie franchises on the planet had finally shut down. No more age-defying stunts from AARP member Cruise; no more innovative action sequences from unexpected movie directors. When things were finally smoothed over between star and studio in September, I’m not ashamed to admit I breathed an audible sigh of relie

Over the last couple of days there’s been a bit of news regarding reshoots on Rogue One, with the initial report claiming that Disney is unhappy with Gareth Edwards’ cut of the Star Wars anthology film. Subsequent reports revealed what many already suspected: it’s just your usual run of reshoots to retool and fine-tune some things, mostly to lighten the tone. And according to a new rumor, while Disney may not be outright displeased with Rogue One, the reshoots may be a bit more involved than we thought.