DreamWorks Pictures
To an entire generation of movie fans, Tom Cruise is perhaps *the* definitive action star.
To another, though, he’s still the guy from movies such as Rain Man and Jerry Maguire and Born on the Fourth of July and A Few Good Men and Eyes Wide Shut, and so on: while Cruise might now be synonymous with blockbuster filmmaking, there is still a legitimately talented dramatic actor buried deep within there.
Looking through Cruise’s filmography, you’ll find that the last purely “dramatic” role he took on was in 2017’s American Made, which was directed by Edge of Tomorrow filmmaker Doug Liman. Prior to that, you’d have to go back to 2008’s Valkyrie.
The best example of Cruise’s skills as a purely dramatic actor this side of the year 2000, though, is probably in Michael Mann’s 2004 crime film Collateral, which saw Cruise play against type as a villain. The point being: it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen the non-Ethan Hunt/Peter ‘Maverick’ Mitchell version of Tom Cruise.
His return to such a role could be around the corner, though, as Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie recently confirmed that a “gnarly, violent” R-rated movie is the next project the pair will be working on.
“There’s a movie that Cruise and I are talking about doing next or in some probable next, that Erik and I developed together – what has been referred to on the internet as ‘The Gnarly Movie’. It’s that movie that they’re all asking for, and that we want to do,” McQuarrie said during a recent interview on the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast.
This echoes what McQuarrie has previously said about the project, stating back in late 2022 that the project will be a ‘gnarly, adult and more violent movie’.
Before that, of course, Cruise and McQuarrie need to get through the production and release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which is currently scheduled to hit theaters next summer. Due to the ongoing actors’ strike, though, the June 2024 release date could be in jeopardy.
In the meantime, you can check out the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One — which is now playing in movie theaters across the United States — below.