We told you about the fourth Mission: Impossible that’s in the works, but a question that has been lingering is whether or not Abrams would be seated in the directors chair for the new installment.

Recently, Abrams spoke with MTV and had this to say;

“I’m producing with Tom, My guess is, given other things, that I will not be directing the movie.”

So it seems a new director will have to take the chair, but what about Cruise? Rumors have been floating around that a younger actor, or even an ensemble may take over for Cruise as the focus of the franchise.

When that question was presented to Abrams, he responded –

“I don’t want to give anything away yet, but I will say that it’s a story that will feel consistent with the world that has been created,” he explained. “It’s not a reboot kind of thing.”

What is known is that Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec are penning the screenplay, and the whole thing came together because Cruise wanted to reunite with Abrams.

“Tom asked if I’d be interested in working with him again,” Abrams said. “I didn’t have a sense of what the story would be, but very quickly this idea came to mind, and Tom reacted to it in a way that got me excited, and then we got André and Josh to come onboard, and they began developing the idea with us.”

Neither Cruise nor Abrams wanted to work on something that didn’t feel like a worthy successor to the first three “Mission” films, but, as he said, the

“story was just so damn cool, and we got so excited about it.”

Given Abrams’ commitment to the “Star Trek” franchise, it seems as if his likely decision to skip directorial duties on “Mission” means audiences could see the fourth film in a shorter timeframe than if he were helming the movie. Shooting could even start soon.

“My hope is that when the script comes in — the dream would be that we could shoot this soon,” he said.