Mission: Impossible IV is set to debut in late May 2011. J.J. Abrams will be producing, of course Tom Cruise will be starring and I’m sure Ving Rhames will find his way in there somehow. However, the film has yet to announce a director. They better get to it, May 2011 is almost a year away.
The shortlist seems to be taking the film in a completely different direction than the previous entries, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cruise and Abrams have been interested in Edgar Wright, Zombieland helmer Ruben Fleischer and, oddly enough, Brad Bird.
Yes, Brad Bird, director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Brad Bird the animation director. Bird has long made it known that he wants to try his hand at live action and it looks like Cruise and Abrams are seriously mulling him over as the man to move this franchise forward.
I think it’ll be hard to top Mission: Impossible 3. I love that movie. However, I have wanted to see Bird direct a live action film for a while now and this could be a perfect vehicle for him. We all know the man can direct action, just watch The Incredibles. This choice would be far superior to choosing just another generic action film director. Looking at the shortlist Cruise and Abrams have, it’s obvious that they are willing to try something and someone new. That’s exciting.
