Tom Cruise confirmed for another Impossible Mission if Knight and Day performs overseas

Paramount has been quietly putting together a fourth installment of Mission: Impossible, and according to THR, the studio has gotten Tom Cruise to commit to returning as “C.I.A. Agent Ethan Hunt.”

According to the report, Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said Tuesday. “We absolutely are excited about having Tom Cruise star in this movie.”

But apparently the studio is closely monitoring the overseas performance of Cruise’s latest film, Knight and Day, to see if the star still has the ability to charm foreign audiences. If that film banks less than $200 million overseas, some industry observers think Paramount will consider recasting the M:I 4 project.

Meanwhile, Cruise is circling other projects, including Paper Wings, a Sony project to be produced by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment. Paper Wings is set in urban cowboy world.

At this point, Knight and Day’s performance abroad is still an unknown, because the film’s release was delayed in many countries until after the World Cup. It’s set to open in key markets this weekend, including Australia, Brazil and Spain, but has already has opened strongly in China and India.