Paramount, Skydance and Tom Cruise have tapped Will Staples to work on the script for the fifth Mission: Impossible, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Christopher McQuarrie is attached to direct the film, which will see the return of Cruise as Ethan Hunt. Paramount has slated it for release on Dec. 25, 2015.

Drew Pearce, who wrote Iron Man 3, was the previous writer attached, but that was before McQuarrie signed on in August 2013.

Staples' previous work has been mostly in video games. He worked on Need for Speed: Rivals and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. He's attached to several films in development, including Blood & Treasure, a starring and directing vehicle for Ben Affleck set up at Warner Bros. He also wrote Myth for Fox and the Jeremy Renner vehicle King of Heists.

Tom Cruise Productions, Paramount and J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot are producing Mission: Impossible 5, and David Ellison's Skydance is co-producing.

The previous Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, released in December 2011, reinvigorated the franchise, grossing an outstanding $694.7 million worldwide.