Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout writer-director Christopher McQuarrie is set to steer the series into its unlikely seventh and eighth chapters. According to Variety, McQuarrie has signed on to again guide Tom Cruise’s scampering through two more M:I sequels—these ones being shot back-to-back, preparing for the unlikely case that Cruise’s aging all at once catches up to him.
Though McQuarrie and Cruise have already collaborated on more than a half dozen projects, the deal is surprising given some comments McQuarrie made to Empire. When Fallout was out there drawing rave reviews (such as our own, with accompanying fan-art), the director said:
“I felt so bad for the director of Mission 6 and I feel even worse of the director of 7. I’d rather have leprosy than be in the position of the person having to confront the pressure of the hyperbole of [Fallout] on their first day of shooting the film. It’s too much to confront. I’d need a long nap before I could contemplate it.”
But it seems he’s now had that long nap, because McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 are already scheduled to hit theaters summer 2021 and ’22. Praise Xenu.
