MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise production info

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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.

>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.

Any idea on what the original ending was? It sounds very serious with how its described.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023)

McQuarrie’s original script was too long for a single movie and reworked into a two-part story, with additional characters, subplots and setpieces not present in the initial version to fill it out.

Grace was originally an IMF agent pursuing Ethan alongside Briggs and Degas. When McQuarrie expanded the story, he made Grace a thief caught up in Ethan’s mission in order to explore her origin and reveal more about the IMF recruitment process.

Paris was originally male and the film’s main villain, a psychopathic assassin chosen by the Entity as its “dark messiah.” When McQuarrie expanded the story, he created Gabriel to have a villain with a personal tie to Ethan, and reworked Paris into Gabriel’s female enforcer.

The movie would originally begin with a flashback sequence detailing Ethan's past relationship with Gabriel and Marie, in which McQuarrie planned to digitally de-age Tom Cruise, but Cruise nixed the idea.

Nicholas Hoult was originally cast as Paris, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, and Pom Klementieff was cast once the character was reworked.

McQuarrie planned to bring back CIA Director Erika Sloane, but Angela Basset was unavailable. He later brought her back in The Final Reckoning as the President of the United States.

McQuarrie did not initially intend to kill Isla Faust, but Rebecca Ferguson asked to be written out after fulfilling her three-picture contract, which also led to a stronger romantic subtext between Ethan and Grace.

I am indeed. Thank you, bro.

McQuarrie planned to digitally de-age Tom Cruise, but Cruise nixed the idea.

He couldn't stand the implication that he has aged.
You're not going to say anything about Covid's impact on this one's production?

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

Two out of three DC women, funny that.

>Nicholas Hoult was originally cast as Paris, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, and Pom Klementieff was cast once the character was reworked.

Good thing, we get to see her pom poms in the second film.

>McQuarrie did not initially intend to kill Isla Faust, but Rebecca Ferguson asked to be written out after fulfilling her three-picture contract, which also led to a stronger romantic subtext between Ethan and Grace.

They should've told her to take a hike because killing Ilsa after what her and Ethan went through was the worst decision these movies have made. Even worse, being killed by a jobber like Gabriel.

Paris was originally male and the film’s main villain, a psychopathic assassin chosen by the Entity as its “dark messiah.” When McQuarrie expanded the story, he created Gabriel to have a villain with a personal tie to Ethan, and reworked Paris into Gabriel’s female enforcer.

Sounds much better, Hoult as the main villain. It's sad that MI8 is a stitchjob full of memberberries because of MI7's reception. It'll be years before we find out what MI8 was supposed to be before the massive rewrites due to the box office of DR.

Probably but also the end result look embarrassing but there's also that. I think Tom's gone too over his head with these movies now, there's barely any real input my McQ, he's just Tom's errand boy and does as Tom says on everything. He found his perfect yes-man and is holding on to him for a long while. I like that he's branching out and doing auteur pieces to finally get that Oscar but it's a shame he couldn't take a step back and realize how badly the last two MI movies turned out.

massive rewrites

You keep saying this in MI threads lately, but never provides a source.

Of course they would've rewritten the movie, anon. It's clear from watching it. Nearly all of the setup in DR is thrown out the window in MI8.

Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, George Clooney, Nicolas Cage and John Travolta,

Tommy is better than any of them

Going to go see the new one on sunday what should I expect

Two hours of fluff for 15 minutes of the best action set piece put in a movie in a long time. You'll know what I mean after you've seen it.

The film would originally bring back the cast of the 1966 TV show and have them die in the opening scene

Peter Graves declined to return as Jim Phelps after learning the character would be the main antagonist.

Just imagine the shit storm if this happened today.

McQ is a hack who ran out of ideas. This reads like a child trying to come up with ways to play with his toys. JJ is a different kind of hack but he'd never have added the Gabriel and Marie flashbacks. The Entity is a shit tier villain and one of the worst ideas put to screen. I guess the success of Fallout and Top Gun Maverick went to his head

Didn't Rebecca clash with Tom or something

he thinks McQ has any autonomy and isn't just a Yes Man to Tom who writes and directs all the movies himself

McQ is a stool boy. He has no real control or input. He became Tom's errand boy because he was struggling big time before Cruise picked him up and was about to leave the industry for good. So he's indebted to Tom and just does as Tom wants.

>The film would originally bring back the cast of the 1966 TV show and have them die in the opening scene

>Peter Graves declined to return as Jim Phelps after learning the character would be the main antagonist.

Just imagine the shit storm if this happened today.

If Tom is such a big fan of the original series, why do this to the original team who were always portrayed as selfless heroes? Why such spite?

Woo designed the movie’s action scenes first, and the script was written around them

then why was the movie 20% action and 80% boring dog shit

[DePalma] considers it one of his weakest films

Cruise and Woo clashed frequently during filming.

Thandiwe Newton declined to return

Joe Carnahan was hired, but later dropped out due to creative conflicts

Vanessa Redgrave was approached to return as Max, but declined

Rebecca Ferguson asked to be written out

Sure does seem like Tom is difficult to work with.

If I were Tom Cruise, I'd be very high on my own supply too.

Just imagine if the Star Trek film franchise had opened a film by killing off the 60s TV cast and making Kirk the villain.

Thanks Tom

David Fincher's take on MI3 sounded great. It was about black market organ trafficking and the IMF team stopping a military coup in Sierra Lionne. I thought it sounded cool.

>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.

They released the movie 6 months earlier, (to avoid Force Awakens) it wasn't delayed 6 months.

And the ending change was minimal (they just made a continuous music score for every scene at the end, instead of separate scores which made everything feel disjointed) it only took 2 weeks.

Sure thing Tommy.

audiences found the first film too slow and complex

how

You sound like a disgusting faggot.

I don’t understand how it’s considered complex but even my boomer dad thinks it’s slow. Which in all fairness, the first one definitely feels more like a thriller when compared to the rest thanks to De Palma, and I love it for that reason.

Without completely spoiling it, how many memberberries are in the new one. Does it reference or connect all the movies?

RED LIGHT. you forgot depalma said cruise hijacked the film and in the end depalma didn't care anymore

You nearly got MI3 from the director of smokin aces

It makes several acknowledgement to the previous films, with easter eggs and old actors.

There are references and tie-ins to every single M:I movie except the second one.