Over the last 18 years, the Mission: Impossible franchise has lined up an impressive list of actresses to play opposite Tom Cruise' Ethan Hunt. On that list are Emmanuelle Béart, Thande Newton, Michelle Monaghan, Keri Russell, Maggie Q, and Paula Patton - and now the latest female lead has been found for Mission: Impossible 5. Word has come down that Rebecca Ferguson, the lead of the BBC series The White Queen, has taken a key role in the next chapter of the blockbuster franchise.
Set to be directed by Christopher McQuarrie and based on a script by Iron Man 3's Drew Pearce, Mission: Impossible 5 doesn't currently have an official plot synopsis, but is expected to bring back the stars from Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - including Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and the aforementioned Paula Patton (not to mention possibly Ving Rhames and Michelle Monaghan). Deadline notes that Alec Baldwin is also in talks to play the head of the CIA in the movie, though it's not clear if that's going to position him as a protagonist or an antagonist.
Ferguson, who was born in Sweden, made her English-language debut playing Queen Elizabeth in the aforementioned The White Queen - starring in 10 episodes last year - but she has some big stuff coming up on the horizon. Next up she will be starring alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Brett Ratner's Hercules, which will be released later this month on July 25th. She also has a part alongside Game of Thrones' Charles Dance and Man of Steel's Antje Traue in writer/director Shamim Sarif's Cold War thriller Despite The Falling Snow.
Mission: Impossible 5 has been seriously in the works for quite a long time now, coming across as a big priority last May when Tom Cruise dropped out of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. remake to focus on it. The film has seemingly been dragging its heels ever since, though it has stuck with its Christmas Day 2015 theatrical release. Things appear to be coming together quickly now, however, as rapid casting news is always a good sign. Filming is reportedly scheduled to start this August, which means that the production does have a chance to stay on schedule for December of next year. Now all it has to worry about is having a release date positioned just one week after J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol proved to be the biggest hit of Tom Cruise's career, but I have my doubts about it taking down one of the biggest franchises of all time. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if within the next few weeks we hear that the movie has been pushed to 2016.
