Tom Cruise sets out on Mission: Impossible 6

Actor Tom Cruise will return as Ethan Hunt for a sixth installment of Mission: Impossible. He says that shooting for the film could start as early as a year from now.

Read: Maverick to be seen in Top Gun 2

Cruise made the announcement on Tuesday night’s The Daily Show, where he was promoting Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, the fifth installment in the popular action spy series, reports Variety.

“We’re starting to work on it now. We’ll probably start shooting it next summer,” Cruise told host Jon Stewart.

The previous films in the franchise have all been separated by at least four years.

Representatives for Paramount Pictures, which has released all five films in the franchise dating back to 1996, had no comment. The other films were released in 2000, 2006 and 2011.

The Mission: Impossible franchise has grossed a combined $2 billion at the worldwide box office. Rogue Nation, which carries a $150 million price tag, will open in 40 international markets on Friday, including Britain, Australia, Mexico and South Korea.

Read: Finding Tom Cruise in Pakistan not an impossible mission

The 53-year-old, is currently shooting drug thriller Mena with filmmaker Doug Liman.