Somehow, Mission: Impossible is one of those few series that gets better with each new entry. After the utterly humorless Mission: Impossible III, the series took a more lighthearted turn with Brad Bird’s live-action debut, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. That trend continued in last year’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, which was directed by Jack Reacher director, Christopher McQuarrie.

Reception for Rogue Nation was universally praised by fans and critics alike, and Paramount Pictures seemed to take that as a hint that they should capitalize on its success by beginning production on the next film in the franchise as soon as humanly possible with the same director attached — which is a series first. The film was set to begin production this fall, but now a report from Deadline seems to indicate that the next Mission: Impossible film may be facing its first obstacle.

According to the outlet, all 15-20 people in London who had been hired to do prep work for the production (again, set to begin this fall) have been told to stop. So what’s the reason? Well, there’s no definitive story, but here are a couple versions of the story Deadline is floating.

1. Paramount Pictures wants to trim Cruise’s and the producer’s fees for the film.
2. Tom Cruise wants a raise that matches the cash he’s getting from the Universal-produced Mummy reboot, which is set to hit theaters next year.

Regardless of which party is initiating this, it’s clear that they need to clear it all up before any more work is done on the picture.

All in all, there seems to be little reason to worry. Paramount hasn’t been in the best shape in years previous, and there’s no way they’d let a huge tentpole franchise like Mission: Impossible go to the wayside over petty salary disputes. In addition, McQuarrie is still hard at work at the script for the film, and they don’t even begin shooting until January. The prep work was obviously a move to alleviate stress and overall costs, but at this point, it’s a wise decision for them to focus on ironing out these contracts so that they don’t cause a problem down the line.

Any thoughts on this minor halt in pre-production for Mission: Impossible 6? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Deadline