David Fincher signs for "Mission: Impossible 3"
POSTED ON 04/17/02 AT 10:00 A.M.
BY THOMAS CHAU

Variety reports that "Fight Club," "Se7en," "The Game," and "Panic Room" director David Fincher will be adding "Mission: Impossible 3" to his repertoire. Tom Cruise and partner Paula Wagner will once again produce the picture.

No details were released regarding the storyline of the film, or even if Tom Cruise will return in an acting role. Cruise's next project is "The Last Samurai," while Fincher has been juggling several projects as possibilities for immediate follow-ups to "Panic Room," which include the sci-fi project "Rendezvous with Rama" and "Hardboiled" at Warner Bros.


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Fincher Takes on Mission: Impossible III!
Tuesday, April 16, 2002 11:45 CDT

Variety reports that David Fincher ("Se7en," "Fight Club," "Panic Room") is in final negotiations to direct Paramount Pictures' "Mission: Impossible III" for producers Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner.

The trade says that Fincher is understood to have become close to Cruise in recent months due to overlapping interests. The director had been mulling helming WWII Pacific actioner "They Fought Alone" (also known as "Fertig") for Columbia, which Cruise had been circling to star as Col. Wendell Fertig. The actor ultimately elected to topline Warner Bros.' war drama "The Last Samurai," but the two remained eager to find a project on which to work together.

The two previous "Mission: Impossible" filmspics, helmed by Brian DePalma (1996) and John Woo (2000), have grossed $454 million and $546 million worldwide, respectively.