The lackluster box office grosses (not a flop, but not a good omen either) for the 2006 sequel Mission: Impossible III had the studio suits at Paramount questioning the future of the once-viable tentpole action franchise, but after more than five years the blockbuster movie series is back with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

The second trailer for the movie has been released and you can watch it here below.

Brad Bird is best known for his work on animated feature films. He wrote and directed The Iron Giant, as well as both The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar. Back in March of 2008, it was reported that Bird would make his live-action debut with 1906, a movie about a son trying to figure out who killed his father around the time that the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906 struck.

While Bird is still working on 1906, it now looks like it will not be his first live-action title; after months of rumors and reports that the director was one of the names being pursued to direct Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible IV, Cruise himself has confirmed himself that Bird is indeed the man for the job.

Word of a Mission: Impossible IV has floated around since Mission: Impossible III came and went, it would seem.

Instead of becoming just another random Hollywood rumor that eventually runs out of breath and dies, this one has always stayed alive and strong. This is because those associated with the movie, such as mega-star Tom Cruise and sources close to the studio, would always remain confident that it would happen eventually. Their determination has now paid off.

It’s being reported by Deadline Hollywood that Mr. Cruise has officially signed on for the fourth installment of the gigantic Mission: Impossible franchise. The deal will also include Cruise as a producer on the film along with J.J. Abrams, who directed the third film but will not be directing here. This is not very surprising: the first film in 1996 was directed by Brian De Palma while Mission: Impossible II was directed by John Woo, so it’s something of a personality trait for each film to have a different big director.

Mission: Impossible III
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Tom Cruise, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup
Paramount Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 126 minutes
Release Date: May 5, 2006

In Mission: Impossible III, Tom Cruise returns as IMF Secret Agent Ethan Hunt to face his deadliest foe yet Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an international weapons and information dealer — and as second sequel law dictates, if it’s not in 3-D, then this time it’s personal.

The opening sequence shows Ethan and his love, Julia (Michelle Monaghan), captured and bound by the villainous Davian, who’s threatening to kill the couple unless Hunt hands over the “Rabbit’s Foot.” It doesn’t look good for our hero, but hold on, you’ll have to wait an hour to find out what happens while the movie flashes back a few days to the “good” stuff: Ethan and Julia’s engagement party!