Page 1 of David Fincher is NOT directing Mission: Impossible 3!

News has just come in that the director of Se7en and Fight Club will not helm the third instalment of the espionage series, which is currently slated for a summer 2004 release.

Instead, Fincher is off to "make a skateboard movie", and Cruise/Wagner and Paramount have brought in the director of the Ray Liotta vehicle Narc, Joe Carnahan, into the director`s chair.

Fincher would have been ideal for the position, but from what I`ve heard, Narc was pretty damn good, so perhaps Carnahan can bring a bit of an edge to the film. Here`s hoping...

If the story isn`t interesting in the first place coupled with good direction, then there`s no hope for this franchise. MI:2 was awful, IMO, compared to the first. And the first isn`t that great a film in the first place.

Anil
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The original was a good espionage thriller, with things to think about (mainly due some may say to the over-complex plot), and action to savour, with a good script and under good direction from De Palma.

The sequel was good if not compared to the original - it was good for action junkies - and Woo did bring a sense of fun to it, and the added violence built up the characters more. Great, no. Good fun, yes.

After the travesty that was MI:2 does anyone actually care?

"After the travesty that was MI:2 does anyone actually care?"

Yes - as the premise is good, and the character of Ethan Hunt can be used well, as long as the script and general execution of the film is up to speed. M:I-3 could just be an excellent popcorn flick, and something to tide us over until Bond 21.

They should get De Palma back to do no. 3.
His directorial style is pretty much perfectly suited to the series!
No. 2 would probably have been a lot better with him at the helm, there would have been a lot less f*cking doves in it anyway!

Thats good, I thought Fight Club was overrated really

Well, after seeing `Narc`, I certainly hope the third film will not be some grim, realist version of an action film, as Carnahan`s previous work implies. There is however, another problem, Carnahan`s hyperbolic `grittiness` is actually the only interesting thing about `Narc`, so if Paramount and Cruise file off the rough edges (as surely they must) it could be the most anonymous `Mission: Impossible` yet.

--Mike

I think Paramount hired Carnahan for this reason, and since M:I-2 was a 15, there is no reason for this to be slightly tamer than Narc and land a 15 rating, yet still have a rough and edgy undercurrent. The PG days of the original are hopefully long gone.

Narc was amazing.