Will Knight and Day Kill Mission: Impossible 4?

Published by Jeff Leins on June 23, 2010

All eyes are on the opening numbers of Knight and Day this weekend, especially those at 20th Century Fox, who released the Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz action-romance today, and the execs at Paramount considering Mission: Impossible 4.

The tracking numbers for Cruise’s latest are the main cause for concern because it seems, well, no one cares about this movie.  Worse yet, reviews are mixed (shameless plug for my take), and the summer is in a noticeable slump.  All of which could wipe that toothy grin off Cruise’s face.

This is making Paramount uneasy about a fourth Mission: Impossible, even with Cruise returning, J.J. Abrams producing, and Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) directing.

However, Cruise’s star power has decidedly dimmed and the series has dwindled at the box office.  Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III made $134 million domestic in 2006, a significant drop from part II.  Plus the four-quel has already been delayed to December 16, 2011, outside of the busy summer season and up against Sherlock Holmes 2.

According to Deadline, Paramount CEO Brad Grey and Vice Chairman Rob Moore are reading over the script just delivered by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec, but insiders are “buzzing” about the possibility of cutting their losses or scaling back the production’s budget.  Remember this is the same studio who couldn’t find money to make Anchorman 2.

While I don’t believe the sequel will be scrapped entirely, I do believe a major bomb this weekend (see: Jonah Hex) would impact how much it costs and how it’s marketed.  Mission: Impossible is still a strong franchise, despite waning interest in its star, and could be sold on the brand and Bird alone.  Besides, Paramount is already in bed with Cruise for this Les Grossman comedy, so canning his second chance at stardom may be a mistake.