A sketchy report in the American TV Guide reveals that Tom Cruise has been talking to Lost creator and erstwhile trekkie JJ Abrams about a possible Mission: Impossible 4.
Abrams reveals that he and the Cruiser have come up with "a really cool idea" and says that he's "incredibly honoured" to have been invited back.
It seems unlikely that Abrams would return to the franchise (of which he directed the really rather good part 3) as director though. A producer credit is more likely, leaving directing duties up for grabs. As producer, Tom Cruise's previous modus operandi for the series was to give each episode a particular director's stamp: hence the very stylistically different series entries from Abrams, Brian De Palma (part 1) and John Woo (part 2).
Cruise's very public spat with studio Paramount two years ago called the future of the M franchise into question.
If the movie goes ahead, we'd like to request it involve as few of those stupid masks as possible.
This story may well self-destruct.