MTV Movies Blog › brad bird

Ethan Hunt and the IMF are back and bigger than ever in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." For the fourth go around, Tom Cruise makes the jump to IMAX screens and makes it worth while. If you do go see "Ghost Protocol," be sure to seek out IMAX showings. It's the way the film was meant to be seen.

Here are five more reasons why you should initiate "Ghost Protocol" this week.

Read more...

Tags brad bird, Five Reasons, Jeremy Renner, mission impossible ghost protocol, simon pegg, tom cruise

With the dynamic duo of "Incredibles" director Brad Bird and A-list action man Tom Cruise bringing us a new chapter of Ethan Hunt's impossible missions, it's safe to assume that the fourth installment of this blockbuster franchise will be bigger and badder than the first three.

When MTV News caught up with Bird at the "Super 8" premiere, we asked the Oscar winner just how crazy the film will be, in terms of stunts and action sequences - especially given the photos that surfaced online of Cruise atop Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

"It's big and it is crazy," Bird said. "I think the craziest thing is that they're real they're not digital. That's Tom Cruise on the tallest building in the world, he's doing all that stuff," Bird said of Cruise's death-defying stunts. "People won't believe it, but we shot it in IMAX so it's there for everyone to see."

Read more...

Tags brad bird, mission impossible ghost protocol, tom cruise

Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams successfully restored Ethan Hunt to big-screen glory with "Mission Impossible III," but when "Ghost Protocol" comes our way this December, Abrams will be stepping away from the director's seat in favor of a producer role.

But don't worry: the mission is in the very capable hands of Brad Bird, the man responsible for animated classics like "The Incredibles." When we spoke with Abrams on the phone last week, the "Impossible" producer said that Hunt's next mission is loaded with Bird's signature style -- which is pretty surreal, considering Bird's newness to live-action filmmaking.

"I couldn't be more excited about that," Abrams told us about Bird's work on the film. "Not only is the movie coming along, but what I've seen is kind of unbelievable."

Read more...

Tags brad bird, jj abrams, mission impossible ghost protocol

Just yesterday, Christopher Nolan kindly asked fans to stop referring to his next flick as "Batman 3" and instead to address it by its proper name, "The Dark Knight Rises." Now, Tom Cruise has followed suit, revealing that his fourth impossible "Mission" as superspy Ethan Hunt won't be boring old "Mission: Impossible 4" or "Mission: Impossible IV" or "The Untitled Fourth Installment in the Mission: Impossible Franchise." Instead, it will bear the official title of "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol."

According to Reuters, Cruise, director Brad Bird, and co-stars Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton made the announcement at a press conference in Dubai, where "Mission Impossible 4," er, "Ghost Protocol" is currently filming. Read more...

Tags brad bird, Jeremy Renner, mission impossible ghost protocol, mission: impossible, Paula Patton, tom cruise

A lot of people are going to see "re-shoots" and shudder in fear. I don't get the feeling that that's the case here though. EW.com is reporting that, as part of the recently completely (and planned) re-shoots for "Tron Legacy," Pixar veterans Brad Bird and Michael Arndt came in to collaborate with the film's original writers to better bring out the film's "character, emotion and theme."

I don't see this as a knock on writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz as much as it is Disney using all of the tools available to make sure "Tron" is every bit as amazing as the debut trailer makes us want it to be. Pixar does an exceptional job of imbuing computer fabrications with real, human emotion, even when the subjects are a handful of talking toys. As good as the movie is looking so far, I find it hard to consider this news as anything other than a positive thing. What do you think?

Tags brad bird, Michael Arndt, pixar, Tron Legacy

-- "The Incredibles" director Brad Bird is in final negotiations with Paramount Pictures to helm "Mission: Impossible IV," the fourth entry into the spy franchise starring Tom Cruise and executive produced by J.J. Abrams. "MI:4" will mark Bird's live-action filmmaking debut. [New York Magazine]

-- The girls are back in town — and by girls, I mean Carrie Bradshaw and the rest of the "Sex and the City" gang, as the sequel's first official trailer has gone online. Looks like John Corben's Aidan is back in action, so Mr. Big better watch his back! [MTV.com]

-- The Furyan has been left for dead in the first official concept art sketch for "Riddick," the third entry into the "Chronicles of Riddick" franchise starring Vin Diesel as the titular goggles-wearing antihero. [Facebook] Read more...

Tags barry sonnenfeld, Big Momma's House 3, brad bird, carl rinsch, christian slater, clive owen, cuba gooding jr, daniel bruhl, devon bostick, emily rios, Faizon Love, intruders, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, kim coates, michelle ang, mission: impossible iv, pig scrolls, Portia Doubleday, Riddick, sacrifice, Sex and the City 2, the dailies, vin diesel

-- One of the summer's most mysterious movies, "Inception," is now a little bit less mysterious thanks to director Christopher Nolan's willingness to speak out about the project. The article is filled with spoilers so read at your own risk, but here's a nice teaser — the film is described as "Hollywood's first existential heist movie." [The Los Angeles Times]

-- A new "National Treasure" sequel is coming courtesy of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" co-writers Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and "Sorcerer's Apprentice" director Jon Turteltaub are involved, and series leads Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha and Jon Voight are expected to return, though not confirmed. [Coming Soon] Read more...

Tags anna friel, brad bird, christopher nolan, Enter Nowhere, ghostbusters 3, inception, Jason Clark, jessica biel, Mission: Impossible 4, Mob Girl, national treasure 3, Resident Evil: Afterlife, the dailies, The Dark Fields, The Fields, Violet and Daisy

What do "The Incredibles," "Shaun of the Dead" and "Zombieland" have in common? Since there are no undead in the Pixar flick, it must be... "Mission: Impossible 4"!!! Wait, what?

The word is that producer J.J. Abrams and star/producer Tom Cruise have met with the directors of those three films as possible candidate to helm IMF agent Ethan Hunt's next big screen adventure. THR's Heat Vision Blog broke the news, putting much of the shock value on "Incredibles" helmer Brad Bird, as this would be his first non-animated effort. And while Bird is certainly an odd man out compared to the other two possibilities, all three are compelling choices. Read more...

Tags brad bird, edgar wright, jj abrams, Mission: Impossible 4, mission: impossible iv, Ruben Fleischer, tom cruise

These are the days to be a nerd. No longer is the geek shunned. He is celebrated! Comic book movies like “The Dark Knight” are considered high art, fantasy like “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” rule the hearts of millions and the sci-fi goodness of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” is the toast of 2009. Yes, it is a good time to be a, as they say in Latin, dorkus malorkus.

Hollywood hasn’t been very kind to one corner of the nerd world however. Video game adaptations do not have a history of quality, thanks to early ‘90s monstrosities like “Street Fighter” and “Super Mario Bros.” Then there's Uwe Boll, who has single-handedly made this sub-genre a wasteland of bad special effects, sub-porn-level dialogue and cruelty to great actors. What did Ben Kingsley do to deserve being in “Bloodrayne”? Read more...

Tags brad bird, David Lynch, guy ritchie, john woo, sam raimi, sofia coppola, Warcraft, World of Warcraft

Longtime friend of Henry Selick, Brad Bird was on hand tonight at the Portland premiere of "Coraline", treating MTV News to updates on his first live-action feature, "1906” and updating us on the status of "Toy Story 3."

"The best way to sum up ["1906”]," says Bird, "would be that it's a romantic, epic, mystery with lots of action in it, based around events leading up to and through the earthquake in San Francisco in 1906."

The basest level of pre-production has already begun as Bird is looking for places to shoot while trying to put finishing touches on the script.

"It's really a hard script to write. Mostly because there are so many things going on in that place in that particular period of time. Any time you're going toward something, you're going away from five other cool things... We'll see if they have the courage to make it. We're proceeding as if." Read more...

Tags 1906, brad bird, toy story 3