Rumor: Tom Cruise Eyes Chloé Zhao to Direct Mission: Impossible 9

According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Tom Cruise reportedly wants Chloé Zhao — director of Nomadland and Hamnet — to helm Mission: Impossible 9. The claim was circulated this week by Deuxmoi based on industry whispers.

According to the report, the screenplay for the ninth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise is currently being written. Cruise faced numerous challenges while producing and filming the seventh and eighth entries, including Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, and has not officially confirmed that the action saga has concluded. Production on the eighth film was halted multiple times during the pandemic, pushing its budget beyond $400 million. Released last summer, it grossed just over $600 million worldwide. However, it appears that David Ellison, following his acquisition of Paramount Pictures, is eager to continue investing in the franchise.

Zhao previously directed Marvel’s critically divisive Eternals and may choose not to abandon independent, lower-budget filmmaking after the anticipated success of Hamnet. Meanwhile, Cruise recently collaborated with Alejandro González Iñárritu on Digger, set for release next October. He is also developing sequels to Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and Edge of Tomorrow.

Cruise, 63, previously told The Sydney Morning Herald that he hopes to continue playing Ethan Hunt into his 80s, much like Harrison Ford did with Indiana Jones: “Harrison Ford is a legend… I’ve got 20 years to catch up. I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I reach his age.”