Brad Bird now in Negotiations to Direct MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4

I will be absolutely ecstatic if Brad Bird ends up directing Mission Impossible 4! It was revealed last month that Bird was in the running to possibly direct the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise. I really had no interest is seeing this film what-so-ever until I found out that there was a possibility Bird would direct it. 

Now according to Vulture the man who directed Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille is now in negotiations with Paramount Pictures to develop the film. A source close to the deal says that the talks all come down to money, Bird is asking for a lot of it, the reason being is becuase animation projects can take three years of work, and therefore the directors get paid much more. Take into consideration that Bird's last two films both won Oscars, his normal paycheck is even bigger yet. Paramount has MI4 slated to open on May 27th 2011, so it will only take about a year or so to film MI4. Because of that, the studio hopes Bird will reduce his price accordingly. If he does he's got the job. 

Tom Cruise will be back to reprise his role as Ethan Hunt, and J.J. Abrams will serve as a producer on the movie. Abrams actually came up with the story for the fourth film, and it was turned into a script by Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum.

Bird is a amazing story teller, and I'm sure he will do some great things with the Mission Impossible franchise. I just hope he is able to make a deal with the studio so he can get on track to developing his first live-action film.

What do you all think about Bird directing MI4?