Cruise and Abrams moving forward with Mission: Impossible IV

Mission: Impossible IV looks to be a go at Paramount, according to Variety. Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams have agreed to co-produce the sequel, which is eyeing a 2011 release. The new Mission installment augments Paramount’s formidable list of sequels already in development, including Star Trek 2 and a third Transformers.

According to the report, work on Mission: Impossible IV could be delayed by the busy schedules of the participants. Director J.J. Abrams will be responsible for steering the Star Trek sequel, while Cruise recently committed to an untitled pic, formerly called Wichita, for Fox that will be directed by James Mangold and co-star Cameron Diaz. Cruise and Denzel Washington are also waiting for a rewrite on the David Cronenberg-directed The Matarese Circle, an MGM thriller based on an espionage novel by Robert Ludlum.