Tom Cruise and Chris McQuarrie gotta start shakin' if they want to make MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5's current Christmas 2015 release date, and a huge part of that is locking down their villain.
According to Deadline, their pick is something of an unknown, maybe even more so than GHOST PROTOCOL's Michael Nyqvist (an international star from the DRAGON TATTOO trilogy).
Chances are you've seen Sean Harris' work before, but I doubt you recognize the name. He played the talented (and suicidal) Ian Curtis in 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, he featured in the RED RIDING trilogy, he stars as the assassin Micheletto on THE BORGIAS, and perhaps most significantly, he was the ill-fated geologist Fifield in PROMETHEUS. Most recently, he played a character called Santino in Scott Derrickson's DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
I thought Nyqvist's M:I-4 villain was the weakest thing about the film, and I'm sorta bummed they're going further into lesser-known character actor territory instead of the big, Jon Voight/Phillip Seymour Hoffman route. Setting stakes for Ethan Hunt and his crew is as crucial to the film's success as the over-the-top stunts and effects, so hopefully McQuarrie's got something written for Harris that will finally make him a recognizable entity to American audiences.
This isn't locked down yet, but at least we get an idea of what direction they're going in regards to Hunt's adversary this time around.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5 will make you choose to accept it on December 25th, 2015.
