Outside of comic book movies, Tom Cruise is arguably the closest thing that modern Hollywood has to a bankable action star, thanks to Top Gun: Maverick and the Mission: Impossible franchise. However, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie recently re-confirmed that Cruise will star in a "gnarly" R-rated project that's been in the works for a while.

　　In a recent "spoiler special" with Empire, McQuarrie stated that he and his Dead Reckoning co-writer Erik Jendresen have developed a script that would star Cruise and would have a "very un-Tom character" as its hero. He further said that people on the internet have referred to the project as "The Gnarly Movie," which I sincerely hope is not its final title.

　　While it's nice that McQuarrie and Cruise are collaborating on a non-franchise production, it will likely be several years until we actually see it on the big screen. Before they can begin production on it, Cruise, McQuarrie, and co. have to finish Dead Reckoning Part Two, which McQuarrie says is about 40% complete. Considering that the film is slated for a June 2024 release, that'll be a hard deadline to meet, given the ongoing strikes in the film industry over pay disparity, the threat of AI, and more. It's unclear if it will be delayed.

　　Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is currently still in theaters. It has received critical acclaim and has grossed $448 million worldwide so far.