Confirmed: Rebecca Ferguson is about to make movie history. She’s the first actress to return as Tom Cruise’s leading lady in the “Mission Impossible” series. I am told that Ferguson is signed, sealed and delivered for part 6, to be directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who is also returning from part 5, “Rogue Nation.”

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures has stopped the ticking clock and halted early pre-production of M:I6 Mission: Impossible. The studio won’t start up again until salary is worked out with franchise star Tom Cruise. The studio had hired between 15 to 20 people in London to start the soft prep work after writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise worked out the beats of the film, and McQuarrie went off to write the script. Those hired had just begun to work on the design of visual effects, and were told today to stop, we learned.

We’re hearing split versions for the reason: one scenario is that the studio is looking for Cruise and other producers including Bad Robot and Skydance to trim their fees. The other scenario is that Cruise wants Paramount to step up to the raise he got from Universal on The Mummy, and Paramount wants to pay him around what he got for the last film. So they’ve stopped the soft prep until they all find common ground. In the long term, this amounts to a hiccup, because there is no way Paramount doesn’t make this film and no way they would do it without Cruise, who receives an eight-figure upfront sum against break even back end. There isn’t even a heated rush here, because McQuarrie has just started writing the script that he and Cruise worked out and production won’t begin until January.

Light the match and cue the music.

After contentious dealmaking halted pre-production on Mission: Impossible 6, earlier this summer, Tom Cruise is on the verge of closing his deal to return to the Paramount action-thriller franchise.

Cruise’s return for a sixth installment in a movie series that he has been toplining and producing since 1996 seemed like a no-brainer, but negotiations with Paramount took an unexpected turn with the studio, which was co-financing the movie with Skydance, digging in on things such as backend profit participation.

The project was heading towards a January 2017 start when the pause button was pushed.

Now sources tell THR that issues have been resolved and Mission is being re-started. Spring 2017 will be the new start time.

Christopher McQuarrie, who reinvigorated the franchise with the fifth installment, wrote the script and will direct.

Paramount declined to comment.

The next installment in Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible franchise has a release date.
Mission: Impossible 6 will hit theaters on July 27, 2018, Paramount announced Tuesday.