text: Viacom plans " Mission " sequel - report . LOS ANGELES 1996-08-22 Paramount Pictures is going ahead with a sequel to the Tom Cruise blockbuster , " Mission : Impossible " and hopes to release it in the summer of 1998 , Daily Variety reported in its Friday edition . The big-screen version of the spy TV series has grossed $ 175 million domestically since opening May 22 , and $ 338 million overseas so far . It 's the biggest success for Viacom Inc-owned Paramount since 1994 's " Forrest Gump " . However , many critics complained its plot was incomprehensible . Cruise will reprise his roles as star and co-producer , and will soon meet Academy Award-winning screenwriter William Goldman , who will write the script , the report said . It said " Mission : Impossible " director Brian De Palma would have first crack at the sequel , though no deals have been made yet . Goldman , whose Oscars were for " Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid " and " All the President 's Men " , earlier this summer criticised some of the season 's blockbusters . However , he singled out " Mission : Impossible " as an especially entertaining movie , Daily Variety said .