'Mission: Impossible 5': 'Jack Reacher' filmmaker to direct

Christopher McQuarrie, a frequent Tom Cruise collaborator who wrote the Nazi saga Valkyrie and wrote and director last year’s Jack Reacher, has signed on to make Mission: Impossible 5.

McQuarrie has an Oscar for penning the screenplay to The Usual Suspects and also wrote and directed 2000’s The Way of the Gun. He also worked on the screenplay for Cruise’s upcoming Edge of Tomorrow (formerly All You Need Is Kill).

Paramount Pictures officially announced McQuarrie’s participation today after he hinted at the news via Twitter, telling his followers: “Mission: Accepted.”

McQuarrie, whose other credits include the less-successful Jack the Giant Killer and The Tourist, is the fifth filmmaker to take on the Mission: Impossible franchise in as many movies. The Incredibles director Brad Bird was the last one to take the helm with 2011’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. Brian DePalma kicked off the series in 1996, followed by John Woo, and J.J. Abrams.

In a statement about McQuarrie’s hiring, Cruise said the rotating directors were by design. “I began producing the films with the goal that a different director with his own vision would make each one. Chris is an extraordinary filmmaker who will deliver the heart-pounding action and thrills that audiences around the world have come to expect from the Mission: Impossible franchise.”

Collectively, the films have earned more than $2 billion at the worldwide box office, and have become Cruise’s signature role as Ethan Hunt, the special ops mastermind who leads each squad.