Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s most notable actors who has forged a great career with his movie choices over the years. After starring in classics such as TOP GUN and COCKTAIL, he is perhaps more recently known as Ethan Hunt, the infamous agent in the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise.
So it comes as something of a surprise to hear that preparations for a sixth installment of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise have been halted. The Hollywood Reporter says that pre-production on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 6 has been shut down due to a reported dispute over salary between Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures.
Apparently, ‘multiple sources’ have confirmed the news that the delays are due to a disagreement with Cruise’s salary for the movie.
Paramount, which was co-financing the movie with Skydance, was in the early stages of pre-production, according to THR.com with a January date scheduled for the start of production, however, the problems have arisen not just with salary, but with the percentage of back-end profits he’s likely to get.
It’s claimed that the actor, who’s recently finished production on THE MUMMY, wanted a share of the gross proceeds that would match or exceed his deal with Universal for playing the lead in the horror reboot.
Having Cruise involved in the film is essential, as it would be hard to imagine a film in the franchise without him and the movies still draw in a large audience at the box office with the fifth film MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION, released in 2015, grossing more than $680 million worldwide.
Christopher McQuarrie is set to direct from his own script, as he did on ROGUE NATION.
It apparently is the second hiccup for the project so far, as in July the film threatened to fall apart over script issues which pushed the production start from November to January. The studio is still hoping for a late 2017 release.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, released in 2015, also stars Jeremy Renner (Marvel’s The Avengers, Kill the Messenger), Alec Baldwin (The Departed, “30 Rock”), Simon Pegg (Star Trek, The World’s End), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Dawn of the Dead), Simon McBurney (The Last King of Scotland, The Theory of Everything) and Rebecca Ferguson (Hercules, The Red Tent).
Whatever the cause for delay, we just hope it gets sorted soon, so our next instalment from the fantastic franchise can be released!
