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Wednesday
28Oct2009

J.J. Abrams Directing 'M:I 4'? Improbable

DateWednesday, October 28, 2009 at 11:43AM
J.J. Abrams tells MTV he's probably not going to direct the next Mission: Impossible movie, currently being written by Josh Applebaum and André Nemec. We previously learned that J.J. would produce, along with Tom Cruise, but the Star Trek director and Lost, Alias, Felicity, and Fringe co-creator says he probably won't be available to perform the same duties he did for M:I 3.

"I'm producing with Tom," he said recently. "My guess is, given other things, that I will not be directing the movie." Other things almost certainly include the next Star Trek, which might make Abrams the first director-producer in recent memory to have concurrent blockbuster franchises on TV and in theaters. While M:I 4 would also likely make a sizable amount of money, Cruise can't play action hero forever. Trek gives him some flexibility there that Mission: Impossible does not.

He's nevertheless still very involved with the project: "I didn't have a sense of what the story would be, but very quickly this idea came to mind, and Tom reacted to it in a way that got me excited, and then we got André and Josh to come onboard, and they began developing the idea with us."

As for the story, Abrams is tightlipped. He always is. "I don't want to give anything away yet, but I will say that it's a story that will feel consistent with the world that has been created," he explained. "It's not a reboot kind of thing."

I think Abrams goes about his business the right way. Trek might have been fun, but it wasn't mindless fun. That's true of everything he's been working on for most of the past decade. Even Alias started out great, even if it spun out of control by the end. But he's perfected his little mentorship program, allowing for guys like Matt Reeves to step up and take on Cloverfield and Let Me In, and with Applebaum and Nemec - like Lindelof and Cuse with Lost - he's again giving the talent a chance to prove itself.

This looks like another one of those opportunities for a guy to come in and direct, building off the foundation Abrams has helped establish. It's a bit risky if he goes with a complete unknown, just because of the nature of thes Mission: Impossible flicks. But he's got a good batting average so far.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | CommentPost a Comment |

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