Tom Cruise And Christopher McQuarrie Have Big Movie Plans, And They All Sound Bonkers

In the last few decades, Tom Cruise has cemented himself as one of the biggest actors on the planet and has constantly worked with the best in the business, whether that's with cinema legend Stanley Kubrick on "Eyes Wide Shut" or Steven Spielberg on "Minority Report" and "War of the Worlds." He's amassed a number of iconic roles under his belt, like Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in "Top Gun" and 2022's "Top Gun: Maverick," which sees the pilot return to the iconic school to train a new squad for a near-impossible mission. The sequel has been met with rave reviews (via Rotten Tomatoes) and earned $1.4 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).

Speaking of impossible missions, another of Cruise's best-known roles is that of Ethan Hunt in the "Mission: Impossible" series. And in recent years, he's been working with director Christopher McQuarrie on the latest chapters in the saga, including "Rogue Nation" and "Fallout." Cruise clearly has a solid dynamic with the director because they're currently working on two sequels for the franchise, titled "Dead Reckoning – Part One" and "Dead Reckoning – Part Two." Paramount is keeping the story under wraps for the two-parter adventure, but it's bringing back characters from previous movies like Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), and Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny).

Thankfully, Cruise and McQuarrie's working relationship will continue. They're already planning future movies after they're done with the "Mission: Impossible" series, and they sound wild.

A new report from Deadline has revealed what Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie are cooking up in the future, and it's going to be an interesting few years for fans of the star. The first project is a "song and dance-style musical ... as a star vehicle for Cruise," which is a huge step away from the likes of "Mission: Impossible" and "Top Gun: Maverick." Unfortunately, the report doesn't reveal what the musical will be about, but this isn't the first time Cruise has dabbled in musicals — he previously starred in the big-screen version of "Rock of Ages," in which sings the likes of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" as Stacee Jaxx.

The second project is an original action movie with the intention of creating a brand-new franchise — which isn't surprising since he'll supposedly say goodbye to Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part Two" (via Variety). McQuarrie recently opened up about this new project, telling the podcast "Light the Fuse," "It's way outside of what you're used to seeing Tom do."

But the third idea in the pipeline is the most interesting — the star apparently wants to resurrect the character from his "Tropic Thunder" cameo, Les Grossman. Fans will remember the studio executive from the 2008 action spoof for his unique dance moves and furious phone etiquette. Deadline notes that it's not clear whether the character will appear in one of the two aforementioned projects or his own movie. But all three ideas will reportedly be written by McQuarrie. So get ready to see even more of Tom Cruise over the next few years.