Tom Cruise Reunites with Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames in Just-Started 'Mission: Impossible 5'

Ethan Hunt has chosen to accept a new mission. Tom Cruise, who plays the resourceful secret agent in the Mission: Impossiblefranchise, reunited with co-stars Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames this week, as shooting began on Mission: Impossible 5.Director Christopher McQuarrie tweeted the above photo on Thursday, with the caption “The team is back” and the hashtag #MI5diary. Renner also posted a group photo – taken at the same time, it seems, from a slightly different angle – on his Facebook page, writing “Big day on MI5. The BOYS ARE BACK!!!”

Yes, the boys are back, including Rhames as rogue hacker Luther Stickell (who has only the briefest of cameo’s in 2011’s Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol), Pegg as gadget expert Benji Dunn, and Renner as up-and-coming agent William Brandt. But those who recall the ending of Protocol will notice that someone is missing from this boys’ club: Paula Patton, whose character, Jane Carter, was recruited to join Hunt’s team. Patton has not confirmed that she’ll return as Carter in the new film. Rebecca Ferguson is said to be playing the lead female role (that was originally offered to Jessica Chastain). Alec Baldwin will co-star as the head of the CIA.

When Ghost Protocol (above) opened in 2011, there were rumors that Jeremy Renner was being groomed to take Tom Cruise’s place asMission: Impossible’s leading man. Given the state of Cruise’s career, that seems unlikely to happen in the fifth installment. After the box office disappointment of Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise may be relying on the popular Ethan Hunt role to reinvigorate his star power. It worked three years ago: Coming off the poorly-received films Valkyrie andKnight and Day, Cruise turned Ghost Protocol into the highest-grossing Mission: Impossible film worldwide. Eighteen years – yes, 18 years! – after the first Mission: Impossible movie, it remains one of Hollywood’s most lucrative franchises.

Even if his career is in flux, Cruise has an ardent supporter in director McQuarrie. Not only did McQuarrie direct Cruise in 2012’s Jack Reacher, but he wrote the screenplays for Valkyrie and Edge of Tomorrow; did an uncredited rewrite on the fourth Mission: Impossiblefilm; and worked on the script for the upcoming Top Gun sequel. When asked “How cool is Tom Cruise?” during a recent Twitter Q&A, McQuarrie replied, “As with all things, he excels at it.”

Judging from recent set photos, Cruise will once again get to showcase those many skills. A few weeks ago, the 52-year-old actor was seen dangling from the roof of Austria’s Vienna Opera House, recalling that breathtaking stunt in Ghost Protocol (below) where heclung to the side of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa skyscraper.

 McQuarrie, who is currently shooting in Morocco, seems both nervous and excited about the film’s progress. When a Twitter follower asked him, “what it’s like working on a Mission: Impossible film?,” the director responded, “I’m the luckiest drowning man alive.”