LOS ANGELES — Never in his decades of stardom has Tom Cruise been more delicately poised than he is right now.

Paramount is pulling together a fourth "Mission: Impossible." There's no question the studio intends to make another installment in the valuable franchise -- even if some industry pundits speculate that it might replace the 48-year-old actor in the Ethan Hunt role.

The studio is monitoring the overseas performance of Cruise's latest film, the 20th Century Fox domestic underachiever "Knight and Day," to see whether the star retains his longtime hold over foreign audiences.

A former studio chief suggested that Paramount might not face any downside in recasting the role in "M:I-4," at least not domestically. "'Mission: Impossible' is a brand," he said. "It didn't have anything to do with Tom Cruise in the beginning."

For its part, Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said on Tuesday: "We absolutely are excited about having Tom Cruise star in this movie."

Source: msnbc.com