Will Tom Cruise be allowed to continue to play the role of Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible 4?

Paramount Pictures is planning on producing a fourth ” Mission: Impossible .” There’s no question the studio intends to make another installment in the valuable franchise, but Paramount might replace the 48-year-old actor in the Ethan Hunt role.

Paramount is currently monitoring the overseas performance of Tom Cruise’s latest film, “Knight and Day,” to see whether the Tom Cruise is still found enticing by foreign audiences.

Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore announced on Tuesday: “We are excited about having Tom Cruise starring in MI4.”

Tom Cruise Mission Impossible

Chances are that Cruise will reprise his role in ” Mission: Impossible 4.” But a disappointing start for “Knight and Day” has Hollywood wondering whether Cruise is still connecting with the American audience or whether the film’s timing and marketing campaign were to blame for its sub-par earnings.

“It all depends on whether Tom Cruise brings in foreign bucks,” said another Paramount executive not associated with the Mission Impossible.

Paramount hopes to have the script for “M:I-4″ within a few weeks, so that production can begin by the end of 2010 and have Mission Impossible 4 in theaters by the November of 2011.

The bad news abiout MI4, is that Paramount wants to set a budget “more consistent with a first movie than a sequel”. The goal is to keep the cost at or below $140 million — significantly less than the 2006 third installment’s $165 million-plus. This budget means that Paramount is hoping that Cruise will be flexible about his deal.

All of this attention is being focused on “Knight and Day”, which is probably not living up to expectations, because of marketing, rather than star quality. Tom Cruise pulled in better a box office for MGM’s ” Valkyrie ,” a film that was much more challenging to market than “Knight and Day.” The 2008 war drama finished with $83 million in North America.