Do you ever wonder how many times IMF agents refused missions? Like, just listened to the piece of bubble gum that turned out to be a debriefing disk with invisible headphones, heard all about the job they were being offered, and just said, “Fuck that,” and got up and walked away, as per the option given on the recording? Don’t you wish your job were like that? “Laurence, should you choose to accept today’s responsibilities, please code these outdated program plans no one will use, just in case.” “Absolutely not.” “Fine, I’ll go self-destruct.” Well, some people get to do that, and they are called Hollywood stars. Jeremy Renner is today’s example of someone turning down a gig in such a manner: Showbiz411 reports the Oscar-nominated actor has turned down Mission: Impossible 6, the next film in the Tom Cruise-starring franchise, to again be directed by Rogue Nation helmer Christopher McQuarrie.
To be fair, Renner isn’t backing out just because his character had to do all the boring stuff in the last entry, even though that is very true. No, it’s for the much more prosaic reason of scheduling conflicts: Renner is shooting Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man And The Wasp back-to-back, leaving him no time to change out of his cosplay archery outfit in order to run around doing spy-like things with Tom Cruise—or, like the previous film, stand awkwardly in Washington, D.C. having phone calls while mouthing off to Alec Baldwin. This news might explain Henry Cavill’s recent addition to the Mission: Impossible series, announced earlier this month. Whether he’s replacing Renner or not, Cavill joins fellow franchise newcomer Vanessa Kirby to what has largely become the Tom Cruise-Simon Pegg buddy spy series.