Paramount Pictures and Tom Cruise finally reached a deal today over a contract dispute that threatened Mission: Impossible 6, and the film will move forward. The actor will return for the sixth installment in the blockbuster franchise.
The studio aimed to cut the salary of Tom Cruise and producers Bad Robot and Skydance. Meanwhile, Cruise wanted Paramount to match or top what Universal is paying him for The Mummy reboot.
In the end, Paramount couldn’t afford to lose the face and star of one of its biggest franchises. So both parties came to an agreement, and the film is back on. The studio declined to comment on the deal.
On hiatus since last month, pre-production for the movie will now resume with Tom Cruise as the everlasting spy Ethan Hunt. The last film, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, made $682.3 million at the worldwide box office.
Mission: Impossible 6 to hit theaters in 2018
Tom Cruise has starred in and produced the franchise since Brian De Palma’s first Mission: Impossible film in 1996. In July 2015, he confirmed that the sixth entry was under development with sights on beginning production in 2016. But that was before the salary dispute.
Filming for Mission: Impossible 6 will naturally begin a little later than originally planned. Production will now start in the spring of 2017 instead of January. Therefore, its expected early 2018 release will probably get pushed back.
In December 2015, Christopher McQuarrie, widely credited for the success of Rogue Nation, announced he would return to script and direct. Rebecca Ferguson also confirmed she would reprise her role as Ilsa Faust.
A very profitable film franchise for Paramount
The series of action spy thriller films based on the TV series of the same name has over $2 billion worth of worldwide gross. The five movies so far have become the 18th-highest-grossing film series of all time.
It all began in 1996 with the successful and equally controversial Mission: Impossible. Fans of the TV show were upset that team leader Jim Phelps became a traitor in the first movie, selling information about government agents to an arms dealer. Despite it, the film made $457.7 million.
Albeit a mixed response, the sequel earned more with $546.4 million. The third film put the franchise back in the right direction even though it made less money at the box office with $397.9 million.
Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation followed and were both a critical and commercial success. Ghost Protocol became the highest-grossing film in the series, and the highest-grossing film starring Cruise, while Rogue Nation came second.
Source: ScreenCrush