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.

Paramount Pictures has released a new still from their upcoming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. You can check out the full, larger version of the photo by clicking the thumbnail below this article.

It’s not the most exciting photo in the world but we do get a good look at a rather tense encounter between Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his elusive new team member Brandt (franchise newcomer Jeremy Renner) while Paula Patton and Simon Pegg sort of sit in the background watching. I think Cruise has a gun in his left hand, but the picture is too grainy to tell. Nice flooring in that room though.

Paramount Pictures has recently released a new promotional image from their upcoming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol showing a hooded Tom Cruise looking pensive while standing in front of a scene of major destruction. You can check out a larger, full version of the image by clicking the thumbnail at the bottom of this post.

I spotted a portion of Moscow’s Red Square in the background, so I’m assuming this is depicting the Kremlin bombing that puts the film’s plot in motion. In Ghost Protocol, when the Kremlin is destroyed and Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his Impossible Mission Force team are implicated in the bombing, they must go on the run to find the real culprits and clear their name lest they be branded as terrorists.

The first teaser trailer for the fourth movie in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, has been released online by Paramount Pictures.

While the trailer is of the teaser variety, it plays more like a full trailer packed with plenty of intense action, a brief story set–up, and peeks at the movie’s fantastic cast, which includes Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Josh Holloway, and Tom Wilkinson.

Ghost Protocol is directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) and produced by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8). It hits theaters December 16, 2011. Be sure to click on over to the other side to check out the teaser trailer now!

During a press conference in Dubai, Tom Cruise decided to reveal the new title for the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, and as with many titles these days, it may have some fans scratching their heads.

Cruise said “One of the things I always wanted for the franchise was for it not to have a number afterwards. I’ve never done sequels to films and I never thought of these films as sequels. Paramount has done a great job in coming up with a title, so it’s not going to be MI2, 3, 4: It’s going to be Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.”