Paramount Pictures and SKydance Productions have announced that Christopher McQuarrie has been hired to direct ‘Mission: Impossible 5.’ The filmmaker will helm the film from a screenplay from Drew Pearce. McQuarrie will reunite with his ‘Jack Reacher’ star Tom Cruise, who will reprise his role of Ethan Hunt for the fourth sequel.

‘Mission: Impossible 5′ will be produced by Cruise through Tom Cruise Productions, Paramount and JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot. Skydance, which served as co-financers and executive producers on the last ‘Mission: Impossible’ sequel, 2011’s Ghost Protocol,’ will work on the new film’s development and production.

“I am thrilled to reunite with Chris for the latest installment in the ‘Mission’ series,” Cruise said of the director, who previously worked with Paramount and Skydance on ‘Jack Reacher.’ “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.”

Written by: Karen Benardello