After two films in a row, Simon Pegg is now established as a regular feature of the Mission: Impossible universe, so it would seem strange not to have him pop up as tech expert and fledgling field agent Benji Dunn. We won’t have to worry about that for the fifth film, however, as he’s confirmed to MTV that he’s on board.
Talking in a video interview (which you can see from the UK here assuming the site hasn’t decided it should be annoyingly geo-locked to the US) about the launch of The World’s End on disc, Pegg is asked about M 5 and says he’s definitely on for it, and that he’s been eating one carrot a day to train up for the film. That diet doesn’t exactly come recommended, however. Unless, as co-interviewee Nick Frost cracks, you’re a rabbit. The movie, which is now set to arrive on December 25, 2015, features Christopher McQuarrie directing and a screenplay by Drew Pearce.
Pegg has also accepted a job to co-star in a rom-com calledMan Up, which will see him paired with Lake Bell and directed by** The Inbetweeners Movie'**s Ben Palmer. The script comes from Tess Morris, and featured on the 2011 Brit List, which highlights respected, unproduced screenplays.
Man Up’s basic concept runs thusly: Single woman Nancy (Bell) is on her way to her parents’ anniversary party when she’s mistaken for a stranger’s (Pegg, we assume) blind date. The mix-up leads to their becoming a couple, looking for a flat and being frustrated when a pair of slackers score it instead by pretending to be a professional cou… Okay we made up the bit about the flat.
Palmer, who also worked on The Inbetweeners in its telly incarnation as well as series such as Star Stories, A Bear’s Tail and Bo’ Selecta!, will start cranking the cameras in January.
Bell is coming off of her directorial debut, In A World… and will be seen in Million Dollar Arm and heard in Mr. Peabody & Sherman. The ever-busy Mr. Pegg has worked on Kill Me Three Times, Hector And The Search For Happiness, The Boxtrolls and the pilot for Frank Darabont’s new US drama, Mob City.