It was back in 2006 that Tom Cruise was first talking about a Mission: Impossible IV film taking place in Tokyo, and while the original comment was a bit of a tongue in cheek reference to Mission: Impossible III (Filmstalker review), Cruise was still talking about it back then.

Well word is that he's appeared on Japanese television since then and has been talking about the same idea, a huge action sequence on the streets of Tokyo.

This is what Tom Cruise said about Mission: Impossible IV back in May 2006:

"People might not be very happy with the traffic but if they will please be patient and let us have it (downtown Tokyo) for one week, we will have a sequence that will be forever remembered."

Now he's reportedly been on a Japanese chat show and was asked about the Mission Impossible franchise, to which he responded that he's working on the story right now and that while he was visiting he'd be working out how to do a huge action sequence in downtown Tokyo.

Now that sounds very much like the comment from two years ago. Does that mean he really is working on that big action sequence, or that he's just pressing the idea so that Japanese authorities start warming to it before they get a director on board? After all remember the problems that Mission: Impossible III faced filming in Shanghai.

There's nothing else said about the film, so it looks like it's still early stages, however the story from a Japanese chat show watcher through AICN and /Film does suggest that after two years Cruise is still keen on the idea of a fourth film and placing it in Tokyo.

However there is no director on board that we know about, nor a writer, and unless Cruise was there with either of them then I don't really see him scoping out a big action sequence in downtown Tokyo so early on before pre-production has even started.

Of course maybe he had the director and/or writer with him. Maybe Cruise is hitting the fourth film himself as lead actor, writer and director? That I seriously doubt, but who could do the job after three great directors delivered the first three films?