It's 'Impossible" For Cruise To "Trek" On Without Abrams

Tom Cruise's stock has certainly experienced a steady climb due to his turn as poison tongued movie executive Les Grossman in "Tropic Thunder" and his performance as the heroic Claus von Stauffenberg in "Valkyrie". He has come a long way from jumping on couches and making himself available as a target for water squirting faux microphones. This new found swagger seems to have Tom feeling a little bit nostalgic according to J.J. Abrams from an interview in the latest TV Guide.

The man behind “Lost,” “Fringe” and the latest Star Trek smash is reteaming with Tom Cruise to resurrect superspy Ethan Hunt for a fourth installment of the popular franchise. “I am incredibly honored that Tom has invited me back as a producer on Mission Impossible 4,” says J.J. Abrams, who directed 2006’s MI: 3, but hasn’t yet committed to directing the fourth. “Tom and I have come up with a really cool idea we are pursuing.” Send Ethan to the “Lost” island to find out what the hell’s going on. That mission is really impossible!

It isn't really breaking news that Tom Cruise would want J.J. Abrams on board with him for a possible "MI:4". Abrams is responsible for the most talked about film of the summer in "Star Trek". Sure, MI:3 didn't fair all that well at the box office, but do you think that is the fault of the spectacled Abrams or the once overzealous antics of Tom Cruise? I would have to say that some bad buzz created by Tom Cruise himself didn't really help what was considered by critics the best of the "Mission Impossible" series.

Cruise previously mentioned that he was writing MI:4 but the question remains will step back into the shoes of Ethan Hunt? At one point Brad Pitt was beeing coddled by Paramount to take on the role as a new agent and breath some life back into the series, this of course fell through. Later the studio threw the idea against the wall of bringing on Brandon Routh to either play a young Ethan Hunt or a different character all together in a reboot of the series, which also fell by the way side.

I guess the bigger question might be the level of Abrams involvement if this small piece of news ever actually turns into a "Mission Impossible 4" later down the line. Many fans think that Abrams continuing on as the director of a Star Trek Sequel is a sure thing at this point but I wouldn't tell Scottie to beam him up just yet. Abrams could very well produce and help with the writing process on a possible sequel and move on to other projects. Does that leave him open to a bigger role with Cruise on MI:4, or the more likely scenario, he moves on to something else all together.

Lost: In Space