Welcome back, Mr. Cruise….

Tom Cruise is flying high again. For the second installment in a row, his Mission: Impossible franchise is doing a fantastic job at pleasing fans, critics, and accountants. The number one movie in the world for two weeks straight, Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation has brought Cruise back to the A-list, and he wants to keep giving the people what they want and striking while the iron is hot. While M:I sequels have typically come 4-5 years apart, The Hollywood Reporter says we’re going to get the sixth installment in just 2.

Previous Release Years For Mission: Impossible:

1996: Mission: Impossible

2000: Mission: Impossible II

2006: Mission: Impossible III

2011: Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol

2015: Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation

According to THR, Cruise wants to film M:I 6 next summer so that it can be released in 2017. That would be the quickest turnaround for a M:I film yet, and would put it on a similar production timeline to that other big Hollywood action franchise about a team of experts that go on insane missions: Fast and Furious. Paramount clearly sees dollar signs with the “new entry every 2 years” production cycle that Universal has used for the F&F series- which has put out a film every second year since 2009- and are hoping M:I has similar legs.

But that’s not all!

With Cruise’s bankability, especially internationally, doing so well Paramount has finalized a deal to put Jack Reacher 2 into production this coming November. A sequel to Reacher was said to be DOA when the first film failed to do great numbers back in 2012. It took some time, but Reacher eventually changed some people’s minds as it racked up some decent coin in ancillary markets- namely making back more than double its budget internationally. Between that, and the current success of Rogue Nation, Paramount is feeling very confident about Reacher 2. The film is set to be directed by Ed Zwick, with whom Cruise made The Last Samurai back in 2003.

What remains to be seen, though, is how well Cruise can do when his character isn’t named Ethan Hunt. Aside from the M:I films, his films- like Reacher– have failed to make a killing at the domestic box office. Films like Knight and Day, Valkyrie, Oblivion, and Edge of Tomorrow have all stumbled out of the gate, even if they weren’t downright flops. So can Cruise open a non-M:I movie? We’re going to find pretty soon. Aside from Jack Reacher 2, the actor will also be re-teaming with his Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman for the 80s period drug thriller Mena.

SOURCE: THR