Hey, guys! It’s Julia Reynolds, and I have some exciting news about the upcoming movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. You won’t believe the trials and tribulations that the filmmaker, Christopher McQuarrie, went through to get this movie made.
The seventh entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which stars Tom Cruise as the lead character, was set to begin filming in February 2020. The film’s crew was in Venice, Italy, just two days away from shooting when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing them to shut down production.
Fast forward three years, and McQuarrie, who wrote and directed the film, along with Cruise, who also produced it, managed to film the movie in several international locations, including England, Abu Dhabi, and Norway. Despite numerous shutdowns and delays caused by the pandemic, the duo persevered and completed the movie.
The prolonged shoot was not without its challenges, though. Nicholas Hoult, who was supposed to play the film’s antagonist, had to be replaced by Esai Morales because his Hulu series, The Great, went back into production. The chaotic nature of the production also meant that another new cast member, Hayley Atwell, had been on the movie set for well over 100 days before she had her first dialogue scene.
After all the setbacks, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will finally hit theaters on July 14, almost two years after its originally announced release date. Despite the production’s many trials and tribulations, McQuarrie always believed he would complete his mission.
“When you’re making a movie with Tom, that’s not really a factor,” he said. “And on these movies, we like to say, ‘Disaster is an opportunity to excel.’ We lean into the chaos. We don’t invite it, but we accept it as part of the process.”
The IMF team, consisting of Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell, Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn, and Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust, will face off against both Morales’ antagonist and a character played by Pom Klementieff from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. McQuarrie promises that the film will be packed with action sequences that have become the franchise’s signature elements.
One stunt that has already been well-publicized is where Cruise rides a motorbike off a cliff in Norway and then base-jumps to the ground. “It’s par for the course,” said McQuarrie. “It’s what you learn to accept. It’s what keeps the lights on!”.
Despite the pandemic, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is finally here, and fans of the franchise are excited to see what Cruise and McQuarrie have in store for them. I, for one, can’t wait to watch this action-packed movie on the big screen!
