Following the success of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol with universal critical praise and $690 million worldwide, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman last month confirmed a fifth Mission Impossible movie would be moving forward.

In a new interview director Brad Bird, who also directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar, said he wasn’t sure if he’d return to direct the next film as the franchise director switching has created “four distinctly different movies”, but he hasn’t ruled it out entirely.

From Crave Online:

No, I think that one of the things that’s fun about the series is that they always pull in a different director and try to get a different kind of take on the premise. I’d probably be open to looking at it, but I think that part of one of the successes of the franchises is that they’re always reassessing it with a new director. That was one of the things that attracted me to it. It’s not a franchise where it was about dismissing your style in order to get the style of the franchise. It was more about [having] each director influence the franchise. Because whatever you think about the Mission: Impossible films, they don’t look like they were made by the same person. They’re the same premise and the same lead actor and all of that, but they feel like four distinctly different movies, style-wise.

Obviously Tom Cruise will be back, and we can assume that some of the supporting players (Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg) may be involved. So far no writers have been hired to write the script, so it’ll probably be a while before we hear anything about the next director.

Are you ready for another mission?

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This weekend director Andrew Stanton, famous for Pixar animations A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E, made his live-action debut with John Carter. There’s a saying that goes something like this: first you need to learn how to walk before you can run. Andrew Stanton, while he did cut his teeth in animation, jumped straight to a 50 mile marathon with the $250 million sci-fi epic John Carter.

But he is not the only animation director that makes his live-action debut this month. Phil Lord and Chris Miller of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the Oscar nominated 2009 animated flick from Sony, are bringing 21 Jump Street to the big screen next week.

Obviously the duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller are taking things slower compared to Andrew Stanton and unfortunately for the latter his first live-action flick is proving to be something of a box office bomb for Disney. According to estimates, John Carter opened with $30.6 million which is in line with expectations but a lot lower then what it should be doing in order to get a pass.

Over the years there have been more than a few directors that started in animation and then successfully transitioned to live-action. The following is not a ‘top list’ of the most popular individuals but more a collection of 5 directors in no particular order who managed to turn at least one or two box office hits during their live-action ventures.

Rob Minkoff

Co-director of the highest grossing hand-drawn animated film of all time, The Lion King, Rob Minkoff successfully transitioned to live-action (though not 100%) with Stuart Little back in 1999. It was a not so little film (no pun intended, the film did cost $133 million) based on the classic children novel of the same name written by E. B. White, that blended a computer generated hero (Stuart Little) with a live-action almost everything else. The movie went on to gross $300 million worldwide and even spawned a sequel released in 2002, handled again by the same Rob Minkoff, one that made quite a bit less ($170 million worldwide). He went back to Disney and in 2003 opened the rather bad Eddie Murphy comedy, The Haunted Mansion with a worldwide total of $182.3 million. Since then he also directed The Forbidden Kingdom, somewhat successful with $128 million around the world, and Flypaper, a movie almost no one saw when it opened in just 2 theaters back in August last year.

Kevin Lima

This guy right here co-directed one of the last Disney hand-drawn animations before the computer generated tide came and swept everything away, namely Tarzan. With $448.2 million worldwide in 1999, it was a very successful film so for his live-action debut, Disney handed him the reins to 102 Dalmatians, the sequel to the live-action remake of the 1961 animated classic. With only $183.6 million worldwide, 102 Dalmatians was not as successful as 101 Dalmatians (1996) and its $320.6 million. Also, the movie was kind of bad so not the best live-action start for Kevin Lima. Fortunately for him, Enchanted, his 2nd live-action adventure, proved to be a hit with both critics and the general audience, and took $340.5 million worldwide which was a damn good rebound for Kevin Lima. Disney are actually planning an Enchanted 2 for 2014 according to IMDB. Recently Kevin Lima went back to his roots for DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming Monkeys of Mumbai.

Brad Bird

Bird directed the magnificent The Iron Giant and then joined Pixar to direct The Incredibles and co-direct Ratatouille. With such a pedigree no wonder Tom Cruise was so keen on having him helm the 4th Mission: Impossible movie. So Brad Bird made his live-action debut last year in December with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and considering that film made $686.1 million worldwide so far, I’d say this is arguably one of the best transitions from one medium to another. Truth be told, Mission: Impossible was already a household name but following Mission: Impossible 3, there were probably a few execs at Paramount scared that Brad Bird would not deliver. Looking back now, he more than delivered. Possibly up next for Brad Bird is 1906 for Warner Bros, a movie centered on the historical San Francisco earthquake of 1906 that he’s been trying to get made for a while now.

Andrew Adamson

Co-director of Shrek 1 and 2 for DreamWorks Animations, Andrew Adamson made a big leap into live-action with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005. As you may remember, after Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings were adapted into very profitable movies that spanned multiple entries, every other studio wanting a piece of the cake and went after just about all the big fantasy books out there. Most of them failed miserably but Narnia was one of the exceptions. Based on the very popular first Narnia book by C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe generated $745 million worldwide so you can’t blame Disney for thinking they struck gold again.

With the second book, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian adapted in 2008, again under Andrew Adamson, they went all out and spent $225 million ($45 million more than the original). Disney also moved the release date from December to May, something they probably regret now. Anyway, Prince Caspian was a huge disappointment with just $419.6 million worldwide so the house of mouse ended up dropping the series, thus leaving Fox more than happy to continue where they left off, sans Andrew Adamson. According to IMDB, the director has now finished one of his next project, Cirque to Soleil: Worlds Away for a tentative 2012 release date while the other, Mister Pip, is still in post-production also for a 2012 release.

Tim Burton

Probably not many know this but Tim Burton actually started as an animator at Disney, working on The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron. While his career in animation wasn’t as long or prolific as the other names on here, Tim Burton is arguably the most successful director to make the jump to live-action with big hits like Batman ($411.3 million worldwide), Batman Returns ($266.8 million), Sleepy Hollow ($206.1 million), Planet of the Apes (2001, $362.2 million), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ($475 million) and Alice in Wonderland (2010, $1,024.3 million). Then there are other great films he made, maybe not as popular but still noteworthy, titles like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Big Fish, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street or his return to stop-motion animation, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. For 2012 he has two films in post-production, Dark Shadows based on the popular 60′s TV show, and stop-motion animated flick Frankenweenie based on a live-action short he directed in 1984.

So who do you think made the smoothest transition from animation to live-action? Or who you like best? Also, if I missed someone feel free to mention him and contribute to this post!

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Paramount have unveiled the second official trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. No Eminem backing track this time, but we see plenty of well polished action scenes and special effects money-shots, along with some throwbacks to the previous films.

Watch below:

When a terrorist bombing destroys the Kremlin, the United States government activates “Ghost Protocol” and disavows the entire Impossible Mission Force. Ethan Hunt and his team are blamed for the attack, but are allowed to escape as part of a plan to enable them to operate outside their agency. Hunt is warned that if any member of his team is captured or compromised, they will be charged as terrorists planning a nuclear strike. He is forced to work with fellow IMF agent Brandt, who knows much more about Hunt and his past than Hunt himself.

The Incredibles helmer Brad Bird is making his live-action directorial debut with the fourth film and Tom Cruise is once again joined by Simon Pegg, along with newcomers Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton (Precious) and Josh Holloway (Lost). Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) and Lea Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) will play villains.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol will be released December 16th, 2011.

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Pixar’s Cars franchise may be making billions in merchandise sales, but most fans would much prefer they focus their attention onto The Incredibles, and a sequel which is long overdue.

Director Brad Bird has recently moved into live-action with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, but in a recent interview he said he would return to animation and make The Incredibles 2 “in a second” if he could come up with a worthly story.

From Movies.com

“I would like to think that I have several good ideas that could be incorporated into a next Incredibles, but I don’t have a whole movie yet, and the last thing I want to do is do it just because it would open big, or something like that.”

“I want to do it because I have something that will be as good or better than the original,” he insisted. “Toy Story 2 was, to me, a perfect sequel, because it absolutely respected the first film but found new places to go without selling out its characters. So if I could come up with an idea that is to Incredibles that Toy Story 2 is to Toy Story, I would do it in a second.”

Pixar won’t make the sequel without him (in the interview he called the original movie his “child”) so whether we see a follow-up is entirely down to Brad Bird. His next project could be earthquake movie 1906 which he’s been trying to get off the ground for a while, but if not he could decide to get a script together for The Incredibles 2. Wishful thinking.

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Paramount today released the first official trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and it looks fantastic. Putting an Eminem song over a trailer filled with exploding buildings, dust storms and gun fights doesn’t work on paper, but strangely it works here.

Watch below:

When a terrorist bombing destroys the Kremlin, the United States government activates “Ghost Protocol” and disavows the entire Impossible Mission Force. Ethan Hunt and his team are blamed for the attack, but are allowed to escape as part of a plan to enable them to operate outside their agency. Hunt is warned that if any member of his team is captured or compromised, they will be charged as terrorists planning a nuclear strike. He is forced to work with fellow IMF agent Brandt, who knows much more about Hunt and his past than Hunt himself.

The Incredibles helmer Brad Bird is making his live-action directorial debut with the fourth film and Tom Cruise is once again joined by Simon Pegg, along with newcomers Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton (Precious) and Josh Holloway (Lost). Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) and Lea Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) will play villains.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol will be released December 16th, 2011.

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We’ve been hearing that Mission: Impossible 4 wouldn’t be given that title upon its release, and now according to Vulture the official title was revealed today by Tom Cruise at a press conference in Dubai.

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.

On the title Cruise said:

“One of the things I always wanted for the franchise was for it not to have a number afterwards,” said Cruise. “I’ve never done sequels to films and I never thought of these films as sequels. Paramount has done a great job in coming up with a title, so it’s not going to be MI2, 3, 4: It’s going to be Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.”

The Ghost Protocol part will probably become clearer as we get more details on the films plot. Other than Cruise, the cast includes Jeremy Renner who will play a fellow agent. Paula Patton will play an operative who works with them, as do Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg who are back in their roles. Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) and Lea Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) will play villains.

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol is currently filming under the direction of Brad Bird, and will be released December 2011.

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Paramount has secured two more actors for the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise: Slumdog Millionaire game show host Anil Kapoor and Inglourious Basterds actress Lea Seydoux. More after the jump.

Deadline initially reported Kapoor would play a villain, but Paramount contacted them to correct the story; apparently, he’s playing “an integral supporting role” but it won’t be as a villain. As for Seydoux (whom you might also recognize from her turn in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood), The Hollywood Reporter confirms she will play the lead female villain taking on Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and Jeremy Renner’s unnamed up-and-comer in the IMF.

Seydoux joins The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star Michael Nyqvist on the villainous side in the movie, while franchise newcomers Renner and Paula Patton join veterans Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames.

Brad Bird (The Incredibles) is making his live-action debut with this movie, which STILL doesn’t have an official title – pick one already! – and is currently filming in Europe under the working title Aries. [This happens fairly regularly for larger films: Inception shot under the working title Oliver's Arrow.]

What do you think about the newest cast additions to MI: 4? Do you have high hopes for this movie?

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According to Deadline Paula Patton will be joining Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner in Mission: Impossible 4 (which won’t be called Mission: Impossible 4). Lauren German and Kristen Kreuk also tested, but Patton eventually won the role of a young operative who works with Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character.

Paula Patton is best known for her roles in Deja Vu alongside Denzel Washington and more recently Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. The yet-to-be-titled Mission Impossible: 4 will be a reboot of sorts, and won’t pick up from where MI: 3 left off. Brad Bird’s film will only involve two agents played by Cruise and Renner, although Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg will be reprising their roles.

Filming will begin later this year in locations such as Vancouver, Prague, Dubai and the U.S. Paramount has set a December 2011 release date.

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After news broke that Jeremy Renner would be joining Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: 4 yesterday Variety managed to get a few more details on the film, and where it is heading. Apparently Paramount may not even be calling it Mission Impossible: 4, opting instead for a standalone title like The Dark Knight, which differed from Batman Begins.

The fourth film won’t pick up from where MI: 3 left off, but they are planning ahead for subsequent films where Renner could play the central character. Variety also say Brad Bird’s film will only involve two agents played by Cruise and Renner, instead of a team of agents like in the previous films.

It looks like the yet-to-be-titled Mission Impossible: 4 will be a reboot of sorts, with new characters and a fresh angle. Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg will be reprising their roles though so it won’t be forgetting the previous films.

No word yet on when filming will begin but the locations are said to be Vancouver, Prague, Dubai and the U.S. Paramount has set a December 2011 release date, so production will probably begin before the end of the year.

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Yesterday we heard that Paramount were looking at Kevin Zegers, Christopher Egan and Anthony Mackie for a possible role in Mission: Impossible 4. They would add new blood to the franchise, and after the box office performance of Knight and Day it would mean Tom Cruise isn’t the sole attraction.

Well according to Deadline Paramount has scrapped tests with those actors, and has hired The Hurt Locker actor Jeremy Renner instead.

The studio has struggled to find the right co-star to play an operative opposite Cruise, and one factor was to selecting an actor who could potentially carry the series, should Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character not continue to be the emphasis. While Cruise is expected to return for a fifth installment, production chief Adam Goodman wanted a guy who could grow into a leading man in his own right. Actors like Tom Hardy and Star Trek’s Chris Pine were considered, but were booked. Goodman, sources said, felt Renner “has a Daniel Craig quality” that the studio chief liked.

Renner is a good choice, and with both Mission and The Avengers the actor could be embarking on new career path as an actor star, especially if both franchises continue beyond these films.

Mission Impossible 4, which is currently set for a December 2011 release, will be produced by J.J Abrams and directed by Brad Bird (Ratatouille). Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg will also be reprising their roles.

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