Brad Bird Will Not Return to Direct Next 'Mission: Impossible'

Despite turning in a kick-ass action film with his "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," director Brad Bird has now revealed that he will not be directing the franchise's recently announced fifth film. "Ghost Protocol" was Bird's very first foray into live action directing, having helmed such animated films as "The Iron Giant," "The Incredibles," and "Ratatouille." And, unlike another popular animated director who took a jump into live action, Bird's film was a critical and commercial success, breathing life right back into the franchise (I am referring to Andrew Stanton and his "John Carter," if you're wondering).

Per a (very wonderful) interview on Crave (via Cinema Blend), Bird says, "I think that one of the things that’s fun about the series is that they always pull in a different director and try to get a different kind of take on the premise. I’d probably be open to looking at it, but I think that part of one of the successes of the franchises is that they’re always reassessing it with a new director. That was one of the things that attracted me to it. It’s not a franchise where it was about dismissing your style in order to get the style of the franchise. It was more about [having] each director influence the franchise. Because whatever you think about the 'Mission: Impossible' films, they don’t look like they were made by the same person. They’re the same premise and the same lead actor and all of that, but they feel like four distinctly different movies, style-wise."

Of course, this is nothing new for the franchise, as Bird notes that each installment has been directed by a new director - the first by Brian De Palma, the second by John Woo, and the third by J.J. Abrams. That's quite a variety of action-oriented directors and, based on the risk the franchise took with Bird, it will be quite interesting to see who they bring in for the next film. Any ideas?