MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise production info

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Paramount Pictures approached several actors, including Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, George Clooney, Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, to star in the film before Tom Cruise, a longtime fan of the television series, signed on to star and produce.

Cruise originally wanted Sydney Pollack to direct, but he declined, so Brian De Palma was hired. He designed the movie’s setpieces first, and the script was written around them.

The movie went through several rewrites during the production, which frustrated De Palma. He considers it one of his weakest films.

The film would originally bring back the cast of the 1966 TV show and have them die in the opening scene and Ethan Hunt be framed, but the original actors refused to return.

Peter Graves declined to return as Jim Phelps after learning the character would be the main antagonist. Michael Douglas and Robert Redford were considered before Jon Voight was cast.

Juliette Binoche and Geneviève Bujold were considered for Claire Phelps before Emmanuelle Béart was cast.

The original cut had a subplot about Ethan and Claire secretly having an affair with was deleted as Ethan cucking his mentor – even if he later turned out to be a traitor – made him unsympathetic to audiences.

Cruise regretted killing Emilio Estevez’s character Jack Harmon and tried to bring him back for the sequel, but was unable to come up with a believable way he would have survived after being impaled through the head.

Are you the same anon who does BTS info threads on Marvel and DC? If so, thank you. Your threads are always very enjoyable to read.

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Cruise originally approached Oliver Stone to direct, but he ultimately dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, and John Woo was hired. Like Brian De Palma, Woo designed the movie’s action scenes first, and the script was written around them.

An early version of the script features Ethan fighting a sentient supercomputer, which traps him in a virtual reality simulation where he must solve a complex existential puzzle in order to escape. Paramount rejected it for leaning too much into sci-fi.

Another early version of the script features Ethan pursuing his ex-girlfriend, an international terrorist who plans to destroy the Seven Wonders of the World to get revenge on him. Cruise rejected it because he disliked the story.

Paramount demanded that the script had a more action and simpler plot, as audiences found the first film too slow and complex, and include a love story to attract the female audience.

Production was troubled, and Cruise and Woo clashed frequently during filming. Cruise also had to cover expenses when it went overbudget and overtime, and was under heavy pressure from Paramount to deliver a box office hit.

Woo’s original cut was R-rated. He objected to Cruise and Paramount’s plans to cut it down to PG-13 and ended up locked out of the editing room.

Dougray Scott, who played lead villain Sean Ambrose, was set to play Wolverine in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men. When production went overtime, Cruise refused to alter the filming schedule for Scott to pull double duty, so he had to drop out of X-Men and was replaced by Hugh Jackman.

Ian McKellen was approached to play Mission Commander Swanbeck, but declined due to scheduling conflicts, and Anthony Hopkins was cast. Cruise intended for each film to feature a popular actor making an uncredited appearance (First Emilio Estevez, then Hopkins), but eventually abandoned the idea because the trailers kept spoiling it.

The film would originally bring back the cast of the 1966 TV show and have them die in the opening scene and Ethan Hunt be framed, but the original actors refused to return.

Good on them. This was the original subversive crap.

Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)

Cruise originally approached David Fincher to direct, but he declined due to scheduling conflicts. Joe Carnahan was hired, but later dropped out due to creative conflicts, and was replaced by J.J. Abrams.

Fincher’s script featured Ethan fighting a corrupt private military corporation involved with human trafficking in Africa, while Carnahan’s draft featured Ethan fighting a rogue military operative masterminding a series of bombings to topple the U.S. government. Both drafts were rejected for being too dark.

Abrams was initially approached to write a new script after Carnahan’s departure, but Cruise and Paramount were so impressed with his draft and his work on Alias that they offered him the opportunity to direct as well.

Paramount planned to bring back Nyah as Ethan’s love interest, but Thandiwe Newton declined to return, so Carnahan reworked her character into Ethan’s former lover Leah Quint. When Abrams joined the project, he further reworked the character into Ethan’s fiancé Julia Meade.

Fincher wanted to cast Sylvester Stallone as the villain in his version of the film.

Carnahan’s version would feature Carrie Anne-Moss as Leah Quint, Scarlett Johansson as Ethan’s protégé Lindsay Ferris, and Kenneth Branagh as rogue operative Owen Davian. They all dropped out due to scheduling conflicts caused by Carnahan’s departure.

Rachel McAdams was approached for Julia before Michelle Monaghan was cast.

Ricky Gervais was approached for IMF technician Benji Dunn before Simon Pegg was cast.

>Dougray Scott, who played lead villain Sean Ambrose, was set to play Wolverine in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men. When production went overtime, Cruise refused to alter the filming schedule for Scott to pull double duty, so he had to drop out of X-Men and was replaced by Hugh Jackman.

Dougray Scott must loathe Tom Cruise with every fiber of his being for this.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Cruise originally approached J.J. Abrams to direct, but he declined due to scheduling conflicts, and Brad Bird was hired.

Christopher McQuarrie revised the script, which originally featured Julia killed by Ethan’s enemies and Brandt demoted after losing his team in a botched mission. McQuarrie connected the two plot threads by having Brandt’s failed mission be to guard Julia, and revealing that Ethan had actually faked Julia’s death in order to protect her.

Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Anthony Mackie auditioned for William Brandt before Jeremy Renner was cast.

Lauren German, Kristin Kreuk and Jacinda Barrett auditioned for Jane Carter before Paula Patton was cast.

Ving Rhames was approached to return as Luther Stickell, but initially declined due to salary disputes, before ultimately making a cameo and returning for the following films.

Vanessa Redgrave was approached to return as Max, but declined, and was replaced by arms dealer “The Fog.”

Brad Pitt was approached for IMF agent Trevor Hanaway before Josh Holloway was cast.

Cruise revived the idea of having actors make uncredited appearances as IMF personnel, this time with Tom Wilkinson as the IMF secretary. The trailers spoiled it again.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Christopher McQuarrie was hired to write and direct after impressing Cruise and Paramount with his contributions to the fourth film’s script.

McQuarrie wrote the script around the setpieces envisioned by Cruise and himself, a process they repeated in the following films.

The original ending was poorly received. The production was paralyzed and release delayed in six months so Cruise and McQuarrie could create a new version.

McQuarrie planned to bring back Jane Carter, but Paula Patton was unavailable. He also considered bringing back Zhen Lei from Mission: Impossible 3, but Maggie Q was also unavailable.

Jessica Chastain was considered for Ilsa Faust before Rebecca Ferguson was cast.

Benedict Cumberbatch was considered for Solomon Lane before Sean Harris was cast.

>Brad Pitt was approached for IMF agent Trevor Hanaway before Josh Holloway was cast.

>Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Anthony Mackie auditioned for William Brandt before Jeremy Renner was cast.

The big guy and Pitt in the same movie with Cruise? Now that would've been orgasmic.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

The original script had focused more on Ethan having to impersonate a terrorist and grappling with how far he was willing to compromise his morals to maintain his cover.

McQuarrie planned to bring back Brandt, but Jeremy Renner was unavailable. He considered having the Apostles kill Brandt in the opening scene to justify the character’s absence, but Renner declined, as he still wanted to return in the future.

Cruise insisted on the trailers making it clear Henry Cavill's character August Walker would be an antagonist so people wouldn't feel misled into having believed he would be a permanent new addition to the team.