Mission Impossible Iv | featured news

Paramount's Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol has done stellar buisness since opening last Friday in 425 IMAX and other large-format locations before expanding nationwide on Tuesday evening. The Brad Bird-directed film, which introduces Jeremy Renner to the espionage franchise, stayed atop the domestic box office on Friday, grossing a strong $9.7 million for a domestic cume of $42.2 millon. The film is expected to finish Monday--a national holiday--with a domestic cume of nearly $72 million.

The tallest building in the world casts a long shadow on downtown Dubai, as seen in this picture from the GeoEye-1 satellite. But this is no Tower of Babel: Its 2,717-foot height comes nowhere close to reaching the satellite's 423-mile-high orbit. The $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa building made its Dubai debut in January, and recently served as the setting for scenes filmed with Tom Cruise for the upcoming movie "Mission: Impossible 4." Check out our story about the building's opening for additional background and visual perspectives.

With Jeremy Renner on board to star in what may or may not be called Mission: Impossible IV we're pretty much set on the male roles for the film, if you include guys like Ving Rhames, etc. But what about the female roles? Deadline is reporting on which Hollywood actresses are up for roles in the Tom Cruise action-fest:I'm told that Lauren German and Paula Patton are testing for the job. UPDATE: I'm told that Kristen Kreuk will also test for the role....

Paramount Pictures announced Tuesday that Cruise will be back in front of the camera for "Mission: Impossible IV," due in theaters over Memorial Day weekend in 2011. Cruise and "Mission: Impossible III" director J.J. Abrams previously agreed to produce a fourth movie in the action franchise. But it had not been known if Cruise would star again.

MTV recently asked genre-specialist extraordinaire J.J. Abrams about Tom Cruise's involvement in the upcoming "Mission: Impossible 4." Here's what Abrams said:
"The goal would be for that to occur," Abrams said, skirting around actually mentioning anyone or anything by name. So Josh pressed him a little."If I say the words though-- I've seen what you do," the "Star Trek" director said with a smile. "You warp and twist, you make me say things that just break me down." Turning serious again, Abrams acquiesced.

In an interview with MTV News, "Star Trek" rebooter J.J. Abrams said that he would not return to direct the fourth "Mission" Impossible" movie. "I'm producing with Tom," he said recently. "My guess is, given other things, that I will not be directing the movie." Abrams didn't really address rumors claiming that Tom Cruise would not star in this new chapter, but here are a few more things he did say: "I don't want to give anything away yet, but I will say that it's a story that will feel consistent with the world that has been created," he explained.

With "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible" sequels on the horizon, J.J. Abrams has found himself in the position of caretaker for two of the most profitable franchises in Hollywood -- and he shares his thoughts on both in a new interview.

This week's Ketchup includes continuing casting for Marvel's Thor, a MacGyver movie, Tom Cruise talking about Mission: Impossible IV, and new roles for Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Chow Yun-Fat, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones.

There was a good bit of news this about Thor, starting with the rumor that Natalie Portman is the top choice for the female. What isn't said specifically is who that female lead, but really, there's only two major female characters in the Thor story: the Asgardian sword maiden Sif (who is hard to imagine being played by the 5' 3" Portman) and the mortal...