We had heard rumblings about Tom Cruise getting a sidekick in Mission: Impossible IV (like a new recruit; perhaps someone who could conceivably carry on the franchise), and apparently those rumors are now coming true. Both Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames will be returning , and The Wrap tells us that Paramount is now searching for a new member of the team among up-and-comers like Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), Chris Egan (Letters to Juliet) and Kevin Zegers (Frozen, Transamerica).
Though they don’t go into specifics regarding the role, it’s thought that this character will be injected into the team as a young new recruit who uses Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as a mentor. Shia LaBeouf’s name was originally thrown about, but between Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, something tells me the guy needs to avoid playing the apprentice-type kid in another big franchise and take on some new, original work.
Plus, Paramount seems like they’re trying to save money with Mission: Impossible IV after having some concerns about Tom Cruise and whether he can still lead a blockbuster to box office gold. Knight and Day, while somewhat profitable, failed to even come close to the $100 million that should be expected from a summertime action blockbuster starring Tom Cruise. Subsequently, those numbers have steered Paramount in a more money-saving direction.
Out of these choices, Mackie is definitely the guy you have to go with. He showed a ton of promise in The Hurt Locker and stole practically every scene during his recent Broadway stint in A Behanding in Spokane. He’d be my choice for sure, but what do you think?
