Tom Cruise, left, and J.J. Abrams smile from a boat as they arrive at the Japanese premiere of Mission: Impossible III at Odaiba in Tokyo Bay in 2006. They have teamed up again for the fourth movie in the Mission Impossible series, due at the end of 2011. (Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press)

Mission Impossible IV, with Tom Cruise returning to the screen as secret agent Ethan Hunt, has been renamed Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.

The 48-year-old actor told reporters at a press conference in Dubai, where the fourth movie in the blockbuster series is being filmed, that he does not see it as a sequel and therefore doesn't want the film to have a number in its title.

"I've never done sequels to films and I never thought of these films as sequels," Cruise said. "I've always felt it should have a title."

Paramount Pictures then renamed it Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.

The film's production crew has one tall task to accomplish — filming action scenes on the sides of the world's tallest building, Dubai's 828-metre (2,716-foot) Burj Khalifa.

"I'll be spending many days, many hours on the side of this building," Cruise said.

The Gulf Arab emirate is slowly emerging from a debt crisis following a crash in its property market after the global financial downturn in 2008.

Movie scenes will also be shot in Moscow, Prague and Vancouver, according to Paramount Pictures.

The cast includes Jeremy Renner — nominated for an Oscar for his role in the 2009 war film The Hurt Locker — Simon Pegg and Paula Patton. The director is Brad Bird, the Oscar-winning maker of the 2004 animated adventure, The Incredibles.

The film's plot is still top secret.

Cruise is producing the film with J.J. Abrams. They last teamed up in 2006 for Mission: Impossible III. Abrams directed that film, and Cruise starred as super-agent Hunt.

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol will be in theatres in December 2011.