christopher mcquarrie tom cruise

You don't know Jack Reacher : How Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise defied expectations and paved the way for Top Gun: Maverick

10 years ago this week, an oscar winner and an a-lister released an underrated thriller. in an exclusive q&a, mcquarrie looks back at their winning partnership.

Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise have given audiences such all-timer action movies as Mission: Impossible—Fallout and Top Gun: Maverick , but it was Jack Reacher , an underrated thriller released 10 years ago this week, on December 19, 2012, that launched their successful partnership. Based on Lee Child’s bestseller One Shot , Reacher centers on a former MP-turned-justice wielding drifter who comes to Pittsburgh in search of the bad guys responsible for shooting five seemingly innocent people. Co- starring Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall and a villainous Werner Herzog as The Zec, Reacher is a throwback to slow-burn ’70s noir.

Related Content

Reacher would go on to be a sleeper hit, but the project got off to an inauspicious start after fan backlash over the casting of Cruise, whose physical stature didn’t quite measure up to Child’s hulking hero from the novel. McQuarrie, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Usual Suspects, and Cruise managed to overcome that initial challenge, and together they crafted a film that set the stage for their more celebrated collaborations to come. In an exclusive email interview with The A.V. Club , McQuarrie looks back at the making of Jack Reacher and reveals how his partnership with Cruise came together.

A.V. Club: I’m gonna start with the ending: The final shot on the bus is a perfect example of “less is more” visual storytelling. How did you land on that final scene, and was that always planned to be the last shot?

McQuarrie: Reacher is unusual for Tom and I, in that very little changed from the draft I submitted to the draft we ultimately shot (the car chase being the big exception). If there was ever another ending, I don’t remember it. It seemed only right that the man who arrives by bus should leave the same way. And if trouble seems to find him wherever he goes, why shouldn’t it find him there, too?

I have very fond memories of shooting on that bus, driving around Pittsburgh as we were losing the light. You wouldn’t know it to see their faces, but the atmosphere among the crowd was actually quite upbeat. It was close to the end of the shoot and we were having the best time. The couple, Sara Lindsey and Jared Faubel, were local hires and absolutely great. Sara has such a fabulous face — instantly sympathetic — and the emotion she is able to communicate in such a fleeting moment is what makes the scene work.

AVC: Can you recall when you were first approached about this project?

McQ: I’d just finished writing and producing Valkyrie at United Artists after [the studio] had been taken over by Cruise/Wagner. I had a first look deal there, which amounted to an office and a desk and phone.

[ Jack Reacher producer] Don Granger had been the studio executive for UA on Valkyrie and we worked very closely together on that movie. He came to my office one day having gone through all the old Cruise/Wagner titles, looking for what to do next as a producer. He’d settled on Lee Child’s One Shot and asked if I would rewrite the existing script with an eye toward directing. I’d been in director jail since The Way Of The Gun flopped 12 years prior. As had happened on other projects with other stars and studios, I knew I’d be asked to do all the heavy lifting before being kicked to the curb. I told Don I was very flattered, but I wasn’t interested in asking for permission to make movies anymore and turned him down flat. He wasn’t letting it go that easily.

Finally, I told him I’d only write the script if he convinced the studio to offer me the movie to direct. I was confident I’d given Don an impossible task and fully expected not to hear back on the project. I also figured it was a Cruise/Wagner property, which meant Tom Cruise was attached. I looked at the long list of directors he’d worked with and I had no illusions that my name would ever be on it.

A week later, Don came back and said Paramount was ready to offer me the movie. I signed on to develop the script, fully expecting it never to be made. After handing it in, I was hired to write [ The ] Wolverine . Hardly a line of what I wrote survived, further cementing my suspicion that One Shot was going nowhere.

Cruise called me out of the blue one day and told me he’d read [the Reacher script] and loved it. “I’d like to be in it if you’ll have me.” I knew this was going to be a controversial casting choice with the fans. I also knew I had Tom Cruise offering to be in my movie. Don and I went to New York to discuss it with Lee Child. We brought a chart with us—one that listed all the actors who could get the movie made and scored them on various curves; physical size, intellect, demeanor. Reacher is not just physically imposing, he has a wry wit and a piercing intellect. There’s a subtle tone to the character that not just anyone could pull off. Honestly, his physical size didn’t matter to me, particular since it meant I’d only have to cast even bigger people for him to square up against if his fights were to have any stakes.

We also felt Jack Reacher is uniquely American, and should be played by one, despite a number of very capable Brits and Australians on the list. When we walked through all the permutations of the movie, Lee agreed that Tom should play him (Lee also understood this was about expanding the series to a wider audience). With the author’s blessing, the gloves were off.

AVC: Can you walk me through how you shot the opening assassination sequence? And is the shot through the sniper scope an optical?

McQ: The sniper scope is two shots laid one on top of the other—a 50mm for the sniper’s peripheral vision and a whopping 2600mm for the sniper’s POV. They’re shot at a distance of about 400 feet. The hardware of the scope itself we added in post. The entire shot was done in a continuous take and broken up later. We rehearsed one day and shot the next.

I have very particular feelings about the depiction of violence on screen. And while I wasn’t going to shy away from the inciting incident of the book, I wasn’t going to make it fun to watch either. If I was going to shoot a scene like this, it had to hurt. Meanwhile, I had to avoid blood and gore to be within the limits of an obligatory PG-13 rating (this was long before the likes of Deadpool and Joker opened up the room to R-Rated fare). I focused instead on immersion. Everything in the sequence was designed to put the audience squarely in the Sniper’s point of view, unable to look away.

The sniper who trained Tom, Robert Duvall and Jai Courtney also trained both camera operators so they could simulate the motion of a sniper rifle rather than a much heavier camera. They also trained the actors playing the victims in how to die convincingly (not dramatically, but realistically). These victims were all chosen very carefully so that at least one would instill in the viewer a sense of sympathy—not just up close when we met them later, but at a distance the instant we see them.

The finishing touches came in the mix. Don Granger asked me several times to turn down the sound of the gunshots, saying they sounded too real. I told them that was because they were real. And they were going to stay that loud, which they did. There is also no score in order to maintain the sense that this was not a movie. This was really happening. The killing was not just some plot device. It was designed to unsettle an audience largely desensitized to violence.

AVC: During Reacher’s intro in the script, we see him comfort a troubled, sad woman on a bus. Was that ever shot?

McQ: It was indeed. Sadly, that character was a victim of a poorly executed set-up to a payoff that never quite worked. One woman after another admires Reacher. When he gets to the bar where he ultimately meets Sandy, he gives an attractive server the eye and she summarily dismisses him—completely uninterested. It was meant to build him up and take him down a peg. The whole concept was just too subtle and didn’t land. What you’re seeing is the least of all evils. It taught me a lot about the vital importance of absolute simplicity and zero ambiguity in visual storytelling.

AVC: Werner Herzog is such an outside-the-box choice for a villain. How did you convince him to sign on? Was the studio onboard with that casting?

McQ: I was impressed with Neils Arestrup’s performance in A Prophet and told casting director Mindy Marin I was looking for something like that—a villain we hadn’t seen before. She immediately suggested Werner, which I thought was inspired. I also never thought he’d do it. He wasn’t remotely what I imagined—Werner is actually quite charming and not at all spooky or intimidating. He said he would be glad to be involved because he had an “intimate understanding of depraved characters.”

He was a supreme pleasure to work with. He loved everything about movies and never left the set, never even took out his milky eye. He would tell stories about his misadventures to the crew—just an utterly pleasant person to have around. Occasionally, I would find myself watching the monitor and notice The Zec’s reflection over my shoulder, watching the action and my every choice intently.

AVC: Rosamund Pike makes delivering exposition seem really easy in that scene in her office with Reacher. How difficult is it to find balance between emotion vs. information in a scene like that?

McQ: I no longer think in terms of a “balance” between information and emotion. The challenge—the whole point of narrative storytelling for me—is how to convert information into emotion. The scene you’ve pointed out was a turning point for me in this regard. Its rhythms are extremely particular, very technical, with lots of specificity. As a director, I’m always searching for the simplest note, the least instruction. I figure if I’ve written the scene correctly, cast the right actor, set the right frame, I shouldn’t have to explain much about how a scene should be played.

A great example of this is when Rosamund answers the phone—her moment of realization at the desk when she begins putting the pieces together. After a few takes, all I told her to do was move as slowly as she could and never, ever stop moving until she put Reacher’s note down. The transformation was instantaneous. The rest is the actor, the lens and the frame.

Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel told me it was the most profound and effective change he’d ever seen from one take to the next. The truth is, I just minimized the technical bullshit Rosamund had to remember so she could be in the moment.

AVC: That car chase ... how challenging is it to execute such a pivotal set piece in a city whose geography may not align with what you originally envisioned when you wrote it?

McQ: I let the real location tell me what the action can be. All of the action in that sequence was designed around the locations where we shot it. The real challenge was that the chase itself wasn’t in the original script. In the screenplay, Reacher steals a car, drives a few blocks, crashes and takes off on foot. Tom saw an opportunity for us to do something that redefined the film. In time it became the chase that ate Pittsburgh.

The fact that we didn’t have days in the schedule to shoot the chase was quickly remedied. We retooled our second unit into what we called “action unit.” Tom and I would shoot the dialogue scenes during the day with one crew and the car chase with another at night. Only a handful of crew members worked both units. At best, I would have two hours of sleep in the morning between wrapping action unit before starting again with main. For a few consecutive nights, Tom and I worked 24 hours straight.

AVC: Wow. So how did you prepare for that sequence?

McQ: I was never more prepared. I had story-boarded the sequence meticulously. Then the Pursuit Arm showed up—a Porsche Cayenne with a camera crane on top. When I saw what it could do, I threw out my boards and rethought the entire sequence on the fly. It was very cold in Pittsburgh and the back of that Cayenne was like a womb with a monitor in it. I’d take catnaps in there between setups.

We had four Chevies for Tom to drive—two “interior” cars with armor plating and camera mounts on the outside looking in, and two “exterior” cars which were meant to be shot from the Pursuit Arm. We’d beat those cars to hell every night and the mechanics would put them back together during the day. One night, an exterior car came back in perfect condition. The mechanics ran out of time before they could dent it up for continuity. Tom and I got in and drove down the street while the stunt guys rode along side and ran into us a few times. We were back in business.

That chase was shot over a few weeks but it feels like months in my mind—a weird fever dream.

AVC: What surprised you the most about making this film or your experience in Pittsburgh?

A few nights before we finished the chase, the ADs discovered a bar that had once catered to steel workers on the graveyard shift. It opened at 7 a .m . On the night we wrapped the sequence, Jai Courtney and I took a handful of crew that could still stand and went there to celebrate. By 8 a .m ., that place was on fire—packed with locals, partying like the night would never end—a fitting conclusion to that particular sequence.

If you’re reading this: Pittsburgh, I love you.

AVC: Did you and Cruise envision Reacher being a long-running franchise like Mission ?

McQ: The studio offered me the choice of doing another Reacher or what would become Rogue Nation . Tom was prepared to back whatever choice I made. I came quite close to passing on Mission (and I’m quite sure there were certain people who hoped I would).

All through Rogue , Tom and I were talking about the next Reacher . It was going to be leaner, meaner—a hard R. We were eager to do it, too. But, well, let’s just say the stars didn’t align. None of that matters, anyway. We’ll just put all that energy into something else. To quote the Zec: This is what we do.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

Tom cruise and ‘m:i 7’ cast light up rome for world premiere, director says franchise will end when people are “no longer entertained”.

"Driving on the cobblestones of Rome, that was something!" Cruise recalled. "Hayley [Atwell] was very brave to be in that car with me."

By Arianna Di Cori

Arianna Di Cori

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

The lucky few managed to snag a Mission Impossible 7 -branded umbrella. There were dozens of them, neatly arranged on the marble banisters of the Spanish Steps, the majestic staircase of Rome’s Piazza di Spagna that is no stranger to large-scale social events, but rarely finds itself the center of a global premiere like this: The bow of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One .

Related Stories

Wikileaks founder julian assange can appeal u.s. extradition, u.k. high court rules, kevin costner talks diversity in western 'horizon,' promises to keep shooting part 3 "as far as my money takes me".

The undisputed star on this very hot Roman afternoon is Tom Cruise . That quintessential action actor, who, while almost 61, continues to astound the world with increasingly reckless stunts and seemingly inexhaustible energy. Cruise even managed, on his Roman tour de force, to find time to stop in on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who, rather lamely, said “Mission: Impossible” is what her government faces every day.

But back to the Spanish Steps, to the sweltering crowd of red carpet gawkers, to the rowdy screams and cauldron of sweat and excitement that rises above those huge LED screens and can be heard over the “Top Secret” drum corps in M:I 7 uniforms performing on the steps, lending the air of a military tattoo to the event.

After descending the staircase, Cruise strolls around the red carpet semicircle running around the famed Barcaccia fountain: 36 slots representing the whole world united here for the world premiere of one of the last great blockbuster franchises still standing.

The M:I 7 red carpet, much like the Roman Coliseum, has a strict pecking order. High up, next to the Trinità dei Monti church, there’s a dedicated area for the select few: Those granted extensive face-time with Cruise, who signs every single autograph, shakes every hand, poses for every selfie. Below is an almost-uncontrolled rabble of second-tier fans, shoving and scuffling for their moment with the star.

Addressing his fans directly, Cruise recalls the struggles the team had in making M:I 7, which shot at the peak of COVID lockdowns. “You have to see the film, we ran through these streets at a difficult time for everyone [the pandemic and lockdown]. I feel lucky to be here, and if there hadn’t been a team of people who made it possible, we wouldn’t have been able to create a story like this. The film is an epic adventure, full of real action, we really ‘rocked’ in that car.”

He points to the yellow Fiat 500 featured in one of the film’s most exciting and exquisitely Roman scenes, parked a few meters away. A car is described as “a challenge” even for someone like Cruise, accustomed to doing his own stunts on jets, helicopters, motorcycles and race cars. “Driving on the cobblestones of Rome, that was something! Hayley [Atwell] was very brave to be in that car with me, I kept reassuring her ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you,’ but it wasn’t easy.”

Adds director Christopher McQuarrie , “It’s great to be back here in Rome. It fills me with joy to have been here when it was empty during the pandemic and to see the streets today so full of people and life. I’ve never felt more happy to be stuck in traffic!”

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

‘lula’ review: oliver stone chronicles the dramatic rise, fall and rise again of brazil’s current president, emotional david cronenberg unveils horror-filled meditation on grief ‘the shrouds’ at cannes, mark wahlberg’s ‘flight risk’ movie from director mel gibson lands fall 2024 release, ‘the shrouds’ review: vincent cassel and diane kruger star in david cronenberg’s sincere but undercooked sci-fi drama, ryan reynolds was “surprised” and “grateful” disney allowed r-rating for ‘deadpool & wolverine’, lucy hale jets off to ‘good life’ for director bonnie rodini and angel oak films.

site categories

Trump campaign vows to sue ‘the apprentice’ filmmakers over scene of ivana trump rape by then-real estate mogul, tom cruise and christopher mcquarrie thank rome for helping pull off latest ‘mission: impossible’ as movie world premieres.

By Nancy Tartaglione , Baz Bamigboye

Tom Cruise and director/co-writer Christopher McQuarrie introduced the world premiere of Paramount /Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in Rome on Monday evening. 

Fresh from a stroll up the Spanish Steps in the heart of the city (a car chase in the film takes place on the famous stone staircase and in the Piazza di Spagne), Cruise and McQuarrie took the stage in the Auditorium della Conciliazione and in opening comments thanked “the people of Rome” and the local governments in Rome and Venice.

Tom Cruise and Chris McQuarrie speak to the audience at the #MI7 world premiere in Rome pic.twitter.com/mgGJQFywAj — Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 19, 2023

Related Stories

Tom Cruise Gets Emotional On ‘Mission: Impossible’ Red Carpet Talking About Love Of Cinema: “Guys, This Is How I Feel About Life And Our Artform” – Watch

2024-25 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For Oscars, Tonys, Guilds, BAFTAs, Spirits & More

Cruise, who was indefatigable today in taking time with everyone on the red carpet (so much so the movie screening started later than planned because it was such a big day), recalled what it took to pull off the film.

“Everyone knows when we shot this film here, and what was going on in the world,” he said onstage. And had it not been for every person in the entire community, to work with us — all the way from the restaurants in the streets, the police everyone on the road to government and medical staff — to make sure that we’re all safe and to create what we’re going to create this evening,” he said. “I just want you to know every day we were on the phone and working together to keep everything going to bring work to people, to raise the bar to people. And I want to say that the people came to visit daily to say hello to us and encourage us — it was a very beautiful time.”

RELATED: ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ World Premiere Photo Gallery

The pair also introduced cast members Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis (reteaming with Cruise after last year’s Top Gun: Maverick ), Cary Elwes, Frederick Schmidt and Mariela Garriga.

Tom Cruise introduces the cast of #MI7 at the film’s world premiere in Rome pic.twitter.com/tiGc3Grbo5 — Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 19, 2023

RELATED: Tom Cruise And ‘Mission: Impossible’ Cast Including Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny Talk On Rome Red Carpet – Watch

In 2018, the McQuarrie-directed Mission: Impossible – Fallout became the highest grossing of the franchise at just under $792 million global and anticipation is high for this follow-up, which hits theaters globally beginning July 12.

Dead Reckoning Part One (aka M:I7 ) sees Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future, and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.

RELATED: Simon Pegg Says ‘Mission: Impossible’ Team Live With Sense That “One Day, Something Might Go Wrong” With A Big Tom Cruise Stunt

Must Read Stories

Trump origin pic ‘apprentice’ with stan, strong & bakalova: review + red carpet.

Will Smith’s ‘Sugar Bandits’ Seals Deals; A24 Landing Östlund Pic

Lawsuit threat over ‘apprentice’ scene; chaos at hush-money trial, jessica gunning on real-life martha, who fires fresh shots at netflix.

Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.

Read More About:

Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Watch CBS News

"Mission: Impossible" director Christopher McQuarrie on death-defying stunts and working with Tom Cruise

Christopher McQuarrie

IMDbPro Starmeter See rank

• Contact info
• 11 wins & 20 nominations total

• Post-production
• Pre-production
• screenplay by

• written for the screen by

• 13 episodes

• executive producer
• producer (produced by)

• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• October 25 , 1968
• Princeton, New Jersey, USA
• Heather McQuarrie ? - present
• Wilhelmina McQuarrie
• Sibling (Sibling)

Did you know

• Trivia Wrote a screenplay for The Wolverine (2013) which Darren Aronofsky was set to direct. After Aronofsky's departure from the film, McQuarrie's screenplay was heavily rewritten and his name was removed from the credits.
• Quotes Action to me is something very fun to shoot.
• Trademarks Frequently works with Bryan Singer and Tom Cruise
• How old is Christopher McQuarrie?
• When was Christopher McQuarrie born?
• Where was Christopher McQuarrie born?

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

How much have you seen?

Recently viewed

Every Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie Movie Collaboration, Ranked

Mission Impossible 7's director, Christopher McQuarrie, has worked with Tom Cruise on nine other movies and here is how they rank against each other.

Ever since the birth of Hollywood, the majority of filmmakers have had a preference for working with specific actors. Whether it’s Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro or Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson, audiences and insiders have accepted that certain Hollywood figures are more likely to look in each other’s direction first before they look at anyone else. And in an industry where clashes between members of the production team are common, it makes sense for someone to stick where camaraderie has already been built.

For Christopher McQuarrie , Tom Cruise has always been the best actor to work with, and in most of their team-ups, the results have been outstanding. Their latest collaboration, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , has an impressive 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, qualifying it as one of the most flawless movies of all time. In total, the duo has worked on 10 movies together, and here is how they rank from average to excellent.

10 Jack Reacher (2012)

While it’s great for an actor and filmmaker to have a great professional relationship, it can be disadvantageous, especially when a book is getting adapted to the big screen. Take Jack Reacher as an example, where Christopher McQuarrie chose to cast Tom Cruise in the lead role, yet he doesn’t match the description of the character in Lee Child’s novels. In the books, Reacher is described as a hulking 6’5 tall figure. Cruise, on the other hand, is 5’7 and is nowhere close to being the most ripped star in Hollywood.

In comparison, Prime Video’s Reacher series honors the source material much better and even Lee Child was pleased with Alan Ritchson’s casting in the titular role. Ritchson is 6’2 and muscular like his book counterpart, making him a perfect fit. Besides that, Jack Reacher compresses the events a bit too much, leaving out backstories and secondary antagonists. Nonetheless, Cruise still does a great job of conveying the mannerisms of the ex-US Army Military Police Corps investigator who breaks bones at every turn and makes sure every person pays for their crime.

9 The Mummy (2017)

Mummy-related storylines are arguably more fitting for protagonists that are archeologists or adventurers and so an attempt by McQuarrie (as screenwriter) and director Alex Kutzman to present a story about a soldier who awakens an ancient princess from her tomb didn't resonate with audiences. The Mummy was also meant to kickstart the Dark Universe franchise as a way to cash in on the shared-universe trend, but its failure meant the studio could no longer go ahead with such plans.

RELATED: 8 Directors That Tom Cruise Should Work With Next

Overall, the reboot lacks the humor and campy fun that made the '90s film a huge hit. The mummy also looks more like the villain of a supernatural horror movie, hence alienating younger audiences. As for Tom Cruise, he does nothing worth singling out for criticism, yet the film could have used a better-supporting cast like the original which had Brendan Fraser, Arnold Vosloo, and John Hannah.

8 Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Cruise, McQuarrie, and higher-ups at Paramount Pictures didn’t allow the criticism projected at the first movie to dissuade them, so they chose to continue Jack Reacher’s story. Sadly, in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , they didn’t do much to convert naysayers into believers and so plans for future follow-ups were put on hold.

Once again, Cruise’s performance is great, and so are the action set pieces, but the story — which revolves around Reacher and a framed army major going on the run — is less entertaining compared to what’s on offer in Man on the Run films like Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and Tony Scott’s Enemy of the State. In addition to that, the action sequences lack the inventiveness that audiences have come to expect from Cruise in recent years.

7 Valkyrie (2008)

Valkyrie marked the beginning of the duo’s great working relationship though Christopher McQuarrie only served as a screenwriter. There isn’t much to dissect from his work in the war drama since his script mostly sticks to the events as they occurred in real life. As for Cruise, he is phenomenal once again as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg — a German officer that plotted to assassinate Hitler and take over the country during “Operation Valkyrie” in 1944.

However, McQuarrie still favors Cruise by granting him several thought-provoking lines. His character thus ends up looking very honorable, though he has bitten off more than he can chew. A quote such as “You can serve Germany or the Fuhrer, not both!” paints Stauffenberg as someone who understands what’s ailing his country while “I cannot find one general in a position to confront Hitler with the courage to do it!” shows how people in power can be the biggest obstacles to progress. However, the failure to exercise any creative liberties makes Valkyrie indistinguishable from other popular World War II movies that are out there.

6 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol marked the film series’ turn from good to excellent. Whereas the first three movies rely on spy tropes and Cruise’s star power, the fourth installment gives each supporting character a chance to shine. Additionally, it presents a much better plot involving the IMF being falsely accused of bombing the Kremlin, hence creating a diplomatic nightmare.

Christopher McQuarrie served as part of a screenwriting team that also included Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec. The trio deserves to be lauded for creating the perfect balance of suspense, drama, and humor as well as coming up with ideas for unique scenes, notably the Burj Khalifa infiltration, which ended up being one of the greatest movie stunts of all time .

5 Edge of Tomorrow (2004)

As the sole screenwriter, McQuarrie uses several unique concepts to create the masterpiece that is Edge of Tomorrow . Though the story is adapted from Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel, All You Need To Kill , the writer-writer-director pays homage to a couple of other notable Hollywood works, notably Full Metal Jacket . For instance, the hostile relationship between Major Cage (Tom Cruise) and General Brigham mirrors that of Pyle and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the Stanley Kubrick film.

Despite having obvious sources of inspiration, Edge of Tomorrow still distinguishes itself through the time-loop plot that serves as a lesson about persistence and dedication. The more Major Cage is forced to repeat his confrontation with the aliens, the better he becomes at dealing with them. In the end, he emerges victorious.

4 Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Rogue Nation is the first Mission Impossible movie that Christopher McQuarrie is fully in charge of and Paramount's decision to grant him complete control ends up working for the better. On this occasion, the director pits the IMF against The Syndicate — a terrorist network consisting of rogue agents.

Just as he did in Ghost Protocol , Christopher McQuarrie makes the movie better by resisting the temptation to give Cruise’s character all the glory. Benji (Simon Pegg) is especially more interesting than he was in previous installments because he not only has funnier lines but is heavily involved in fieldwork. His life is put on the line towards the conclusion of the event too. Besides that, the cinematography is incredibly good, with the Vienna, London, and Casablanca shots all sticking to a viewer’s mind long after the film ends.

3 Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Before Dead Reckoning, Fallout was widely considered the best installment in the franchise and one doesn’t have to look too hard to see why. The stakes, though familiar are still high, with The Apostles’ leader Solomon Lane hell-bent on detonating a nuclear weapon that might wipe out a third of the world’s population. What really makes the spy flick outstanding is the camerawork.

Great directors have always been known to use unique camera angles and in Fallout , McQuarrie shows just why everything was put under his care. From the motorcycle chase scene in Paris to Ethan and Walker dangerously fighting at the edge of a cliff, everything is brilliantly captured from both a few centimeters and miles away.

2 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

In Top Gun: Maverick , Christopher McQuarrie once again serves in a writing capacity only, polishing drafts that had already been written by Justin Marks and Peter Craig. This time, he avoids making things too complex and allows the film to glow through the stunts and character chemistry. So simple is the plot that the enemy is never directly named. The only information audiences get is that an unnamed nation is developing an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant and so the cautious American military needs to destroy it.

The best moments, therefore, come from the aerial dogfights and the training sessions. Maverick pushes himself to the limit, whether he is testing a new jet or flying into enemy territory, and in the process, he creates many memorable scenes. On top of that, there are wholesome friendship and romance plots, creating an overall feel-good atmosphere from start to finish.

1 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Cruise and McQuarrie don’t deviate from the usual formula in Dead Reckoning Part One . There’s still a global threat that the IMF has to stop but this time it’s one that’s more relevant to modern times. An A.I. system known as ‘The Entity” has achieved near-sentient status and is threatening to cause havoc around the world.

Related: Tom Cruise Wouldn't Allow a Cliffhanger Ending for Mission: Impossible 7

Since it’s a computer program, a couple of shady people get associated with it and so Ethan Hunt and his team find themselves hopping from one corner of the world to the next. The stunts are still the movie’s selling points and the actor-director duo keeps them coming, from the standard fight on top of a train to more unusual ones like a motorcycle driving off a cliff.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy . We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Christopher McQuarrie Reflects on Tom Cruise’s Viral ‘Mission: Impossible’ Set Outburst: That Was a ‘Very Complicated’ Time

Christian zilko.

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Share on LinkedIn
• Show more sharing options
• Submit to Reddit
• Post to Tumblr
• Print This Page
• Share on WhatsApp

Hollywood was quick to credit Tom Cruise with saving the film industry in 2022 after the success of “Top Gun: Maverick.” But the actor was trying to carry the weight of the business on his shoulders long before “Maverick” flew into theaters.

“You can tell it to the people who are losing their fucking homes because our industry is shut down,” Cruise was heard telling the employees who were seen breaking protocol. “It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night – the future of this fucking industry! So I’m sorry, I am beyond your apologies. I have told you, and now I want it, and if you don’t do it, you’re out. We are not shutting this fucking movie down! Is it understood? If I see it again, you’re fucking gone.”

While many were initially shocked to hear Cruise speaking so candidly, much of Hollywood eventually praised the actor for his commitment to safety . And now that the finished film is just months away from finally hitting theaters, the crew is able to reflect on the incident with the benefit of hindsight. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly , director Christopher McQuarrie recalled the complicated emotions that went into Cruise’s outburst.

“That all took place during a very complicated and a very uncertain time,” McQuarrie said. “Obviously, we’re grateful that people took it the way that it was intended. We were fighting to keep the industry alive, we were fighting to keep people employed, we were fighting for the studio, we were fighting for cinemas, and we still are. We’re still there doing that. I’m just glad people understood the intention behind it.”

“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I” opens in theaters on Wednesday, July 12.

Most Popular

You may also like.

Meet Christopher McQuarrie, wingman to Tom Cruise’s death-defying maverick

This article was published more than 6 months ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Christopher McQuarrie attends the U.K. premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, on June 22, in London. John Phillips/Getty Images

If Tom Cruise is the Maverick of defying death, undertaking increasingly ludicrous and often sky-high stunts in his action-heavy blockbusters, then Christopher McQuarrie is his wingman.

The director might have got his start in the industry making small-scale thrillers (writing Bryan Singer’s Public Access and The Usual Suspects , directing The Way of the Gun ), but ever since 2008, McQuarrie has been all-in on the Cruise canon. After working together on Singer’s 2008 Second World War thriller Valkyrie – Cruise starring, McQuarrie writing – the pair have almost exclusively worked with one another. McQuarrie has now written eight Cruise projects and directed four of them, including the latest instalment of the Mission: Impossible series, Dead Reckoning Part One .

Yes, we ranked all 44 Tom Cruise movies

The Tao of Tom Cruise, our last action hero

The film features easily the most ambitious stunt of either men’s careers: a motorcycle ride off a cliff that turns into a BASE jump that turns into ... something not to be spoiled. Shot without green screens or stunt doubles, the adrenaline-fuelled moment represents the high point of Cruise’s go-big-or-go-home relationship with the man he calls McQ.

Ahead of Dead Reckoning ’s release July 12, Cruise’s partner in crime spoke with The Globe and Mail about his own many impossible cinematic missions.

You’ve talked about how from the moment Dead Reckoning began filming in 2020, you knew there would be a moment when Tom Cruise drives a motorbike off a cliff. But you weren’t yet sure “why.” Is that typical of the set-pieces constructed for your Mission: Impossible movies – that set-piece concept comes before the narrative structure?

Sometimes. Not always. I tend to view plot and story as two entirely separate things. Plot is merely the reason or reasons why things need to happen. Story is what happens when character and plot collide. Reasons and motivations tend to be quite fungible and can change as we make discoveries about the characters. Reasons of plot tend to be very general (I have to get to X before Y happens, for example). Reasons of character tend to be very specific (I care deeply about this person, yet I cannot tell them the truth). You end up with a movie where the characters are discovering the story much in the way the audience is. That’s a massive oversimplification, but that’s the gist of it.

Dead Reckoning has had one of the most complicated production periods in contemporary Hollywood history thanks to the pandemic. How do you manage the vision of the final film that you might be holding in your head as you’re encountering one challenge and delay after another?

Very simple. There is no vision of a final film. I find the entire notion to be limiting. The pursuit of a specific vision, in my experience, cuts me off from genuine discovery. Dead Reckoning Part One represents a complete surrender to the process of discovery. Given the conditions, there was no other way. Every shot, every angle, was one dictated by time, place, varying constraints and the needs of the ever-evolving narrative.

Has there been a moment working with Cruise that crystallized the idea that, yes, this is the man who I want to dedicate years of my career to?

I met Tom out of sheer curiosity at a time in my career when I was ready to quit the film business. We just talked about our mutual love of movies. Our first film together, Valkyrie , evolved naturally out of that conversation. I fully expected to hand the script over and walk away. When I was asked to stay on as a producer – something I had never done before – I fully expected to be promptly fired. I assumed every day was my last. I never took my position for granted. Sixteen years later, I still function that way.

Has Tom ever had an idea that was just too complex, something that you had to tell him, “no”?

We always come up with things that are too complex to execute. We usually discover this after we’ve committed. Rather than back out, we push on. In Africa, while shooting a sequence for Dead Reckoning Part Two , he came up with an idea that I told him could not be done, simply because no camera rig existed that could capture it. By that afternoon, our team had built it.

How important do you believe the box-office success of Dead Reckoning is to the future of the theatrical industry as a whole?

Every movie’s success is vital. That’s why I can’t understand this modern notion of box-office competition. We shouldn’t be competing with one another at all. We should be working together so that everyone can win. When we all win, the theatres win. The audience wins. And cinema wins.

It is hard to ignore how the villain of this film is an algorithm that attempts to stifle Ethan’s rogue brand of problem-solving at every turn. How much of that is your dig at the predictability of the streaming world?

As a filmmaker, I’m not here to tell you what I think. I’m here to give you things to think about.

Do you see yourself returning to smaller-scale filmmaking after Part Two ?

I’d love to. Tom and I have plans for a (comparatively) smaller film. And no movie is easy. A bigger budget doesn’t mean smaller problems. Small movies are just as hard – often harder. I love a challenge. Bring it.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in theatres July 12.

Report an editorial error

Report a technical issue

Editorial code of conduct

Follow related authors and topics

• Film Follow You must be logged in to follow. Log In Create free account
• Streaming Follow You must be logged in to follow. Log In Create free account

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following .

Interact with The Globe

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’s surprise ending choice kept Tom Cruise up at night

EXCLUSIVE: Director Christopher McQuarrie on why Part One couldn't end on a cliffhanger

Spoilers for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One follow. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.

Unlike Fast X and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning doesn’t leave things on a cliffhanger for its Part One. All told, it’s a relatively complete tale – Ethan has one-upped Gabriel and has The Entity’s key, after all – with a further end goal in mind buried deep in the Arctic Sea.

In our recent interview with Christopher McQuarrie, the director explained the decision to send audiences home satisfied – and why the surprise creative choice was something that kept star Tom Cruise up at night.

"Where we ended the movie was always where we were going to end it," McQuarrie says of the Orient Express set piece. " How we ended the movie was a big, big mystery for us. It kept Tom awake at night throughout production. He would come in all the time and say, 'This can’t be a cliffhanger, it’s got to be satisfying.' The audience has to feel a sense of completion."

McQuarrie continues, "Tom kept looking at that scene and he had all this anxiety about whether or not it would be a satisfying conclusion or whether it would feel open-ended. We constantly revisited it, constantly refined it."

To emphasize the to-and-fro nature of Cruise and McQuarrie’s dilemma, the fond farewell between Ethan Hunt and Hayley Atwell’s Grace before Hunt departs the train was filmed two years after cameras initially rolled on production. "Tom has his hair from Part Two and he’s in a wig!" McQuarrie jokes.

Then, McQuarrie outlines his Mission: Impossible mission statement on why everything feels a little cleaner than we may have anticipated: "If you leave it with a cliffhanger, it feels a little bit like we’re expecting you to come back," the director says of the ending. "We didn’t want that feeling. The feeling we were reaching for – and we hope you feel – is we dare you not to come back. We want to leave you thinking, 'Oh, I can’t wait to see what happens next.'"

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

In case you were wondering, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two is out in cinemas on June 28, 2024. For more on our Mission: Impossible coverage, check out:

• How Mission: Impossible's Hayley Atwell brought her "scrappy" Dead Reckoning newcomer to life
• Chris McQuarrie opens up on Dead Reckoning: "I’m more frightened now than I was on my first Mission: Impossible"
• The Mission: Impossible movies, ranked from best to worst

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning sets streaming date as its title mysteriously changes

Mission Impossible 8 delayed to 2025

The devs behind PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade are "considering" a PC port and a sequel

Most Popular

• 2 Dune: Imperium - Uprising review - "An elegant mix"
• 3 Homeworld 3 review: "Brings the series safely into the modern era"
• 4 Animal Well review: "An endlessly inventive Metroidvania with unfathomable depth"
• 5 Crow Country review: "a lovingly built greatest hits mix of retro horror ideas"
• 2 The Substance review: "Demi Moore delivers arguably a career-best performance in outrageous horror"
• 3 The Garfield Movie review: "Have the writers ever seen an actual Garfield comic strip?"
• 4 Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 review: "An absorbing ride into the Old West from Kevin Costner"
• 5 Emilia Pérez review: "A miraculous movie that reframes the musical in fascinating and surprising ways"
• 2 X-Men ’97 episode 10 review: "A near-perfect ending to an exciting and tumultuous season"
• 3 Doctor Who season 1 episode 3 review: "Steven Moffat’s return with 'Boom' is an instant classic"
• 4 Demon Slayer season 4, episode 1 review: "Comes perilously close to the dreaded f-word – filler – at times"
• 5 Orphan Black: Echoes review - Krysten Ritter and co try their best in unimaginative sci-fi spin-off

‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ Review: Breathtaking Stunts Highlight a Top-Shelf Tom Cruise Sequel

With jaw-dropping set pieces and a pulsating sound design, director Christopher McQuarrie delivers one of this summer’s best theatrical events

Is Tom Cruise our last bonafide movie star? Or at least one of the few remnants of an elite group of big-screen heartthrobs who leave us saying, “They don’t make ‘em like they used to?” We’ve heard several versions of this question asked again and again over the years, especially on the heels of 2022’s astonishing and disarmingly nostalgic “Top Gun: Maverick,” a heart-swelling legacy-quel that deservedly re-established and reinforced Cruise’s status as a dying breed of larger-than-life screen hero.

While it might be futile to ponder the same query once more (come on, the answer is a resounding “yes”), that doesn’t mean Cruise is done reminding us why there won’t be another one after him to burn just as brightly. And that’s not only because of our era of scattered eyeballs and shortened attention spans that sadly deems the all-encompassing brand of “movie star” nearly obsolete. The short of it is, there is no length Cruise isn’t willing to go to wow and entertain audiences as a terrifically versatile actor, risk-taking producer and multi-hyphenate Hollywood mainstay, while preserving his unique cinematic legacy.

Just direct your attention to his latest “Mission: Impossible” entry, “Dead Reckoning Part One,” the pulsating near-finale of the finest ongoing contemporary action franchise. In this chapter, fluidly directed by Christopher McQuarrie (of also M:I 5, 6 and 2024’s “Dead Reckoning Part Two”), Cruise runs like the wind in his signature style and brings home the emotional core of Bravo-Echo-One-One IMF agent Ethan Hunt.

He effortlessly sells cheesy yet delicious zingers like he still dwells in Hollywood circa-‘80s/90s, steers several mind-blowing, high-wire stunts and set-pieces (one while driving a canary-yellow Fiat Cinquecento in Rome) and actually jumps off a cliff on a motorcycle, the most dangerous number of his acting career. All this is elevated by James Mather’s frequently seat-shaking sound design, with “seat-shaking” in no way being used a metaphor. This is the movie Nicole Kidman must have meant in that AMC ad when she said, “Sound that I can feel.” Talk about the vitality of theatrical moviegoing.

In that regard, the team behind this new “Mission: Impossible”—like the makers of all the installments that came before it—seem to know on a deep level why viewers flock to this group of action movies: the indispensable big-screen proficiency and collective soul of the series first and the plot of individual chapters, second.

Truth be told, “Dead Reckoning Part One”—written by McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen—leaves something to be desired in that latter department, making its blessedly anti-Artificial Intelligence story a little too convoluted for its own good. Judging simply by how many times a character here and there launches into a summary statement like, “So let me get this straight…” for the audience’s benefit, it feels like the writing duo has been aware of the labored complexity of their narrative during scripting and actively looked for opportunities to over-explain what crazy thing just happened.

Then again, it’s partly thanks to these occasional (and often purposely funny) recaps that you piece together the plot that involves a “truth-eating parasite” called The Entity, a four-dimensional chess game with a vanishing algorithm (as someone puts), and a McGuffin of a two-part key that unlocks something that the fate of the entire world depends on, naturally. After all, this vaporous and indecipherable being retains all the knowledge in the world, with the ability to infiltrate each and every governmental, military and financial system. If this doesn’t require the services of the IMF, then what is their purpose?

Other than Hunt himself, trying to secure the key to The Entity are a number of returning figures: Simon Pegg’s affably frantic Benji, Ving Rhames’ cool Luther and Rebecca Ferguson’s classically enigmatic Ilsa Faust, perhaps the best thing that happened to the franchise since Cruise. Trying to capture and sell The Entity are Vanessa Kirby’s shadowy White Widow and Hayley Atwell’s solitary and agile pickpocket, Grace.

There are also various tough baddies in the mix, chief amongst them is the Biblically named Gabriel (a memorably sinister Esai Morales), someone enmeshed with The Entity itself. There is also Pom Klementieff’s Paris, a relentless fighter and a pair of governmental operatives pursuing Hunt: Greg Tarzan Davis’ Degas and Shea Whigham’s Briggs. And don’t forget the notable return of Kittridge (Henry Czerny), Hunt’s famous IMF frenemy.

Globe-trotting over the mountains and in the depths of the ocean with a magnificent opening sequence set in a submarine, “Dead Reckoning Part One” subscribes to a simple philosophy around AI, one that today’s decision makers need to hear loud and clear: Control (if not destroy) it, before it becomes too monstrous to develop a mind of its own—a fear at the heart of many vintage sci-fi dystopias and the latest WGA strike alike. Except, the film is set in a world where this fear has already become a reality. In that, our human-generated opponent has become so “artificially” smart it has learned how to disguise itself and surpass its own inventor.

The idea, while not exactly fresh, is a frightening one. But McQuarrie and miracle worker DP Fraser Taggart manage to have a lot of visual fun with the aforesaid concept of invisibility, while not succumbing to the doom-and-gloom of the real world, unlike other action franchises like “Batman” or “James Bond” that gradually darkened their respective worlds. McQuarrie’s style remains light on its feet and constantly remembers that these movies are supposed to be crowd-pleasing, exciting events that take themselves just seriously enough. In that, McQuarrie pulls off an intricate cat-and-mouse chase in Venice, as well as a heart-stopping airport-set action sequence with crystal-clear editing and choreography, which by itself is enough to make “Dead Reckoning Part One” a top-shelf “Mission: Impossible” entry.

And the team above and below the line don’t stop there, ending with an Alpine train sequence amid the Belle Epoque designs of the glorious Orient Express, crashing it wagon after wagon in a breathtakingly elaborate set-piece that could best be described as “Titanic on land.” Rest assured, the seat-shaking sound design will persist and escalate.

Still, it is Cruise himself that unlocks this extraordinary and, in the end, surprisingly poignant franchise start to finish, the key to it all even when he’s not dangling from a Dubai skyscraper or attaching himself to an in-flight Airbus. Lest we forget, he is one hell of a dramatic actor with the sharpest of blue-eyed stares, carrying the weight of a rootless character through several savagely emotional moments, one of them, genuinely heartbreaking. What better mission could there be this summer other than witnessing our perpetual cinematic maverick deliver yet another full-scale cinematic experience? Should you choose to accept it, of course.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” opens exclusively in theaters July 12.

Rotten Tomatoes Confirms That Mission: Impossible Is One Of The Best Trilogies Ever Just Not The One You Think

• Modern Mission: Impossible trilogy solidified as one of the best action trilogies ever made by Rotten Tomatoes.
• Tom Cruise-led movies dominate the list, showcasing Mission: Impossible's rise to surpass contemporary franchises like Bond.
• Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust storyline in the last three films reshaped the franchise into an elite trilogy.

Rotten Tomatoes' list of the top 300 movies ever made solidifies the prestige of the modern Mission: Impossible trilogy. Since making its first installment under the direction of Brian De Palma ( Carrie , The Untouchables ) in 1996, the Mission: Impossible film series has gradually solidified itself as one of the most exceptional action spy franchises of all time. Given the success and critical acclaim of the Bond franchise under Daniel Craig , Mission: Impossible has historically been placed in its shadow until its most recent installments made it resounding clear that Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible could do more than just compete.

The best Mission: Impossible movies have also been the best movies of their respective years, with 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout setting a franchise high with a 97% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The Mission: Impossible films of the 2010s have undeniably gotten better with age, much like its seemingly superhuman star actor Cruise, who at the age of 61 is still doing his own stunts. The future of the Mission: Impossible franchise looks uncertain if Cruise departs after the highly anticipated Mission: Impossible 8 (formerly Dead Reckoning Part Two ), considering he is the face and soul of the series.

10 Biggest Details & Reveals From Mission: Impossible 8's Set Photos & Videos

The various forms of behind the scenes content for Mission: Impossible 8 has already provided some major clues for the highly anticipated sequel.

Rogue Nation, Fallout, and Dead Reckoning Are A Great Movie Trilogy, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Dead reckoning is listed as number 61 on top 300 list.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the modern Mission: Impossible trilogy is not only one of the greatest action trilogies ever made but also one of the best movie trilogies of all time.

The last three Mission: Impossible films, Rogue Nation (2015), Fallout (2018), and Dead Reckoning (2023), all rank in Rotten Tomatoes list of the top 300 movies ever made. They are the only films of the Mission: Impossible franchise to be included on this list , and one of the few trilogies out of the 300 elite movies. The highest on the list was Dead Reckoning, earning the 61st overall spot. Other trilogies in the top 300 include Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings , Richard Linklater's Before trilogy starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, and all four of the Toy Story movies.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the modern Mission: Impossible trilogy is not only one of the greatest action trilogies ever made but also one of the best movie trilogies of all time. By comparison, Casino Royale (2006) just barely cracked the Top 50% at 149th overall . Fallout ranked right behind Dead Reckoning in the 71st position, while Rogue Nation snuck in at the 269th spot. Of course, it can be argued that these three Mission: Impossible movies are not a "true" film trilogy since they are part of a larger franchise that also includes Ghost Protocol (2011) and the upcoming Mission: Impossible 8 (2025).

This 20-Year-Old Tom Cruise Movie Can Lay The Blueprint For His Future After Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise wont be able to do Mission: Impossible movies forever, but one of his old movies may have paved the way for his acting future.

Mission: Impossible's Last 3 Films Are Better Than Anything Else In The Franchise

Rogue nation was the launching pad for the latest outstanding installments.

While the positioning of the three Mission: Impossible films on the RT 300 list is certainly up for debate, Rogue Nation , Fallout , and Dead Reckoning all deserve to be a part of it.

The last three films of the Mission: Impossible franchise are a trilogy for Rebecca Ferguson's character Ilsa Faust , who was first introduced in Rogue Nation . Faust started out as an antagonist who became Ethan Hunt's ally and eventual romantic interest before she was given a more team-player role and killed off in Dead Reckoning . Ferguson undoubtedly played a major role in the gradual success of the franchise, becoming one of the essential characters in Fallout which also featured a dastardly Henry Cavill as a double agent. She is not set to return in the next Mission: Impossible installment.

While the positioning of the three Mission: Impossible films on the RT 300 list is certainly up for debate, as is the case with many of their selections for that matter, Rogue Nation , Fallout , and Dead Reckoning all deserve to be a part of it. The first Mission: Impossible received mostly positive reviews, while the second installment appeared to be steering the franchise in the wrong direction, earning a score of just 56% on RT. Mission: Impossible III featured a strong villain in Philip Seymour Hoffman, but it wasn't until Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation that the franchise truly found its stride , improving ever since.

Rebecca Fergusons Mission: Impossible Comments Are A Brutal Reminder For Blockbuster Movies

Rebecca Ferguson's comments on her Mission: Impossible exit raise an important point about adding too many characters to expand film franchises.

The Next Mission: Impossible Will Ruin Its Trilogy Ranking

Mission: impossible 8 could create an impressive tetralogy.

Dead Reckoning once again raised the bar for Mission: Impossible movies, which makes the expectations for Mission: Impossible 8 seemingly insurmountable. Based on the recent track record of M:I films, if the 2025 installment isn't one of the greatest movies of all time, it will essentially fall below expectations . Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie have given no reason to doubt their handling of the franchise, and Mission: Impossible 8 has all the ingredients to become another major filmmaking achievement. Unlike other standalone Mission: Impossible projects, it will be directly linked to Dead Reckoning , and could create an elite tetralogy.

Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Cliffhanger Ending Explained

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning ends on a cliffhanger setting up what's to come. We break down the film's ending & what's next for Ethan.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning is an action-adventure spy thriller from director Christopher McQuarrie. It's the seventh entry in the Mission: Impossible series and a direct sequel to Mission: Impossible Fallout. The title will star Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ving Rhames.

Director Christopher McQuarrie

Release Date July 12, 2023

Studio(s) TC Productions, Skydance

Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures

Writers Christopher McQuarrie

Cast Haley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Rob Delaney, Esai Morales, Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Cary Elwes

Rating PG-13

Runtime 164 minutes

Genres Action, Crime, Adventure

Franchise(s) Mission: Impossible

Sequel(s) Mission: Impossible 8

prequel(s) Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible II, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible III

Budget $290 Million

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

Pom Klementieff asked Tom Cruise to kick her in the stomach for Mission: Impossible fight scene

"I kept telling him to just kick me here," the Guardians of the Galaxy actress recalls to EW, indicating her midsection. "I was squeezing abs... But he wouldn't do it."

Senior Writer

Tom Cruise got strapped to the outside of a plane for 2015's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and rode a motorbike off a cliff for the latest sequel, Dead Reckoning Part One . But there is at least one thing the Top Gun star won't do in pursuit of on-screen verisimilitude while making the action franchise — kick Pom Klementieff in the stomach.

In the latest Mission: Impossible film, the Guardians of the Galaxy actress plays a highly dangerous character named Paris who is partnered with the movie's main antagonist, Gabriel, played by Esai Morales. During a sequence set in Venice, Paris has a fight with Cruise's super-spy Ethan Hunt and it was while shooting the encounter that Klementieff asked her co-star to give her a kick in the guts for real.

"I kept telling him to just kick me here," the actress recalls to EW, indicating her midsection. "I was squeezing abs. [I said], 'You can just go for it.' He was like 'No, no, no, no, no.' I was like, 'But it's going to help me!' But he wouldn't do it."

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie cast Klementieff after seeing her playing Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and describes her character as "very, very, very much a chaotic element in the story. It doesn't matter how deep in the background she is, you're going to be watching her at all times and wondering what she's going to do." The actress herself says that Paris is someone who "destroys everything in her path. She's a rebel, she's a killer, she's extremely skilled and quite lonely too."

Much of the destruction caused by the character takes place in Rome during a sequence in which a Humvee-driving Paris pursues Cruise's Ethan Hunt and Hayley Atwell 's character, who are in a small yellow Fiat. "I had so much fun shooting this scene," says the French actress. "It was so special to be on location in Rome. We were shooting during COVID, so we were very lucky to be here. I was trying to not laugh too much because I was having so much fun in the car following the Fiat."

Klementieff reveals that her character's name is a nod to the Great Paris, the magician-spy played by Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy on the original Mission: Impossible TV show. "When Christopher McQuarrie cast me for the role, he didn't know which name the character would have," she says. "It was cool to name me Paris, me being from France, and then they decided that I would speak French because I speak French in real life."

It is unlikely that Nimoy ever wore anything as eye-catching on the TV show as the looks sported by Klementieff in the movie.

"She's very different style-wise from every other actress in the Mission: Impossible franchise," Klementieff says. "She has a side that's a bit more punk and she doesn't really give a f---. So that was cool."

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will release in theaters July 12.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly 's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• 'I want to wreck a train!': Behind the scenes of Mission: Impossible 7
• Tom Cruise is on the run in new Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One images
• Watch the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
• Tom Cruise says iconic Mission: Impossible vault scene nearly didn't happen because stunt was too hard

Related Articles

'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1': Release Date, Cast, Trailer, and What to Expect

New mission, old-school Tom Cruise.

Quick Links

When was 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1's release date, is 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1' available on streaming, who is in the 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1' cast, watch the 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1' trailers, when and where did 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1' film, who made 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1', does tom cruise do his own stunts in 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1', what is the plot of 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one', what is the meaning behind the title 'dead reckoning', how long is 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one's runtime, does 'mission: impossible - dead reckoning part 1' have a sequel.

Ethan Hunt’s story is far from over. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 has arrived, taking Hunt and his badass team on yet another world-saving adventure. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise as the unparalleled international spy Ethan Hunt , the new film pushes the limits of all the new and returning characters across the board. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 presents another epic action story that's a worthy addition to the blockbuster franchise. Read on for all the details you need about Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning before you watch it, including its release dates, cast, characters, filming details, and more.

Editor's Note: This piece was last updated on November 9, 2023.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 arrived in US theaters on July 12, 2023 (previously scheduled for July 14). Dolby Cinema, IMAX, and other premium large formats hosted early access screenings for the film on July 10, 2023, at 7:00 pm. Tickets went on sale on June 14, and those who bought a ticket were also able to see special bonus content exclusively at the event, as well as receive limited edition collectibles, including a poster and an IMF enamel pin. The movie was originally scheduled to premiere on July 23, 2021. Subsequent delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the date, first to November 19, then May 27, 2022, then to September 30, 2022, then July 14, and finally to its current date.

Not at the moment, no. The film will be made available to stream on Paramount+ sometime after the film's theatrical debut. Unlike some of Paramount's biggest 2022 releases such as Smile , The Lost City , and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 , Tom Cruise's last film, Top Gun: Maverick waited 209 days after its theatrical release before it finally premiered on Paramount+, and the seventh Mission: Impossible film will likely be no different, so the new film likely won't be on Paramount+ until early 2024.

Tom Cruise headlines the cast, reprising his lead role as Ethan Hunt. Besides Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 also sees the return of Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge, Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis, and Frederick Schmidt as Zola Mitsopolis, all of whom will be back in their old roles from the previous films. Hayley Atwell ( Captain America: The First Avenger ) is playing a character called Grace. According to Christopher McQuarrie, Grace is a "destructive force of nature". Atwell has also described Grace's loyalties as "somewhat ambiguous".

“The interesting thing we're exploring is her resistance to a situation she finds herself in,” Atwell told the Light the Fuse podcast. “How she starts off, where she becomes. The journey of what she comes into and what is asked of her and potentially where she ends up.”

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 also has another connection to the first movie. Henry Czerny returns as Eugene Kittridge, the former director of the IMF who last appeared in the 1996 Mission: Impossible . The film's primary villain is played by Esai Morales ( Ozark ). Nicholas Hoult ( Renfield ) was originally set to play the role, but he was reportedly forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Pom Klementieff ( Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ) plays another one of the film's villains, an assassin and the right-hand woman of Morale's character. McQuarrie praised Klementieff's performance in the movie saying in an interview:

“I dare you to go to this movie and try not to look at Pom. More than any other actor I’ve worked with, you cannot take your eyes off her. She’s completely compelling, completely dynamic. It was quite amazing. It changed the way I designed shots, it changed the way I wrote scenes, it changed the way we dressed the character. It’s just raw, raw power that’s unrecognisable from Mantis in Guardians.”

Shea Whigham ( Boardwalk Empire ) plays Jasper Briggs, a man who is attempting to track down Hunt and his team. Additional cast members include Greg Tarzan Davis ( Top Gun: Maverick ), Charles Parnell ( Top Gun: Maverick ), Rob Delaney ( Deadpool 2 ), Cary Elwes ( The Princess Bride ), Indira Varma ( Obi-Wan Kenobi ), Mark Gatiss ( Sherlock ), and Mariela Garriga ( Bloodline ). Angela Bassett was expected to reprise her role as CIA director Erika Sloane from Fallout . However, the actress confirmed to Collider in July 2021 that she couldn’t be in the movie due to conflicts caused by COVID-19.

The first official trailer for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 hit the web on May 23, 2022, 14 months ahead of the film's release date and timed to the release of another Tom Cruise blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick . The trailer gives fans their first real good look at all the high-octane stunts, action set-pieces, and new destinations along with the new characters played by Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales. Best of all the trailer shows off Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust brandishing a sword in one scene and sporting an eyepatch in another. Additionally, 20 minutes of footage from the movie was screened at CinemaCon 2023. While that won't be made available to the public, here's the link to a description of the action-packed footage .

The full trailer was released by Paramount almost an entire year after the teaser trailer.

A 30-second TV spot for the film aired on June 1, 2023, during the NBA Finals. And on June 29, we also got a new behind-the-scenes video showing Tom Cruise once again doing some death-defying stunts. This time, the action star does speedflying . To know what that is, here's the video:

Filming on Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 was scheduled to begin under the working title “Libra” on February 20, 2020, in Venice. The movie was supposed to be filmed in Venice for three weeks before moving to Rome for 40 days. However, production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic breaking out in Italy. In July 2020, the UK gave permission for the crew to begin filming without going through the mandatory 14-day quarantine. Similar permission was granted for filming in Norway soon after that.

Filming began in earnest on September 6, 2020 . McQuarrie revealed the start of filming with posts on his Instagram profile . Production was halted in Italy again in October 2020 after 12 people tested positive for COVID-19 on set. This time, filming was resumed just one week later. In February 2021, production in the Middle East was concluded. On April 20, 2021, filming commenced in the small village of Levisham, North Yorkshire, UK, for a train wreck scene. Filming was paused again for 14 days in June 2021 after a member of the production reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. In August 2021, the crew began filming in Birmingham's Grand Central Station. Production was reported to have wrapped in early September 2021 but presumably, some more filming was involved as the latest news is that the movie's production ended on April 29, 2023 , this time confirmed by the director.

This new installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who also did the previous two Mission: Impossible movies. McQuarrie also produced the film alongside Tom Cruise. Skydance's David Ellison , Dana Goldberg , and Don Granger will serve as executive producers on the film alongside Tommy Gormley ( Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker ). Lorne Balfe , who composed the score for the previous film, returns as the composer. Fraser Taggart ( Edge of Tomorrow ) is the cinematographer while Academy Award nominee Eddie Hamilton ( Top Gun: Maverick ) serves as the editor.

Yes, indeed. Tom Cruise continues to do his own stunts in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (and probably all the other Mission: Impossible movies to come). And this time, he’s taking things to a whole other level. During CinemaCon 2021, Paramount Pictures unveiled a video showcasing what Cruise himself describes as his “most dangerous stunt ever” . The sequence involves Cruise riding a motorcycle up a ramp and off a cliff, jumping off said motorcycle, and then parachuting to the ground.

To prepare for the stunt, the actor supposedly went through 500 hours of skydiving training and a whopping 1300 motorcycle jumps. It also took months of construction work to build the ramp used for the sequence. And as if that’s not mind-blowing already, reports say Cruise did the stunt six times before he got it right. Short of shooting Cruise into space on a rocket, it’s hard to see how they’re going to top this for the next one.

The nearly 10-minute featurette was released online on December 19, 2022, after premiering exclusively before IMAX showings of Avatar: The Way of Water . The featurette shows the process behind filming what is said to be the biggest stunt in cinema history, as Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt rides a motorcycle off a ramp on a cliff, jumps off the motorcycle, and skydives his way down. It also feels like Cruise is once again proving all his naysayers wrong. McQuarrie revealed in an interview with Empire Magazine that this stunt wasn't even the most difficult to film , with that title belonging to a fight scene between Cruise and Esai Morales on top of a moving steam train.

"All the days on the train are exhausting. The train just sucks you dry. But in a good way. We're making a movie that involves sequences that they just don't shoot practically anymore, and haven't in a long, long time. The sequence that we're shooting right now is no exception. And like most things on Mission: Impossible, if we had known what the challenges were when we started out, we would never have done it."

On June 14, 2023, another behind-the-scenes featurette was released by Paramount , detailing a car chase set in the streets of Rome. For the dangerous sequence, the featurette shows that Cruise drove two different cars at high speeds and drifting, all while handcuffed to Hayley Atwell.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is easily the biggest film in the franchise thus far. The train sequence will keep you on the edge of your seat, and we get a behind-the-scenes video on what went into making it.

The official synopsis for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 from Paramount reads:

In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.

The director didn't say much about what the story would be like before the release. That said, he did talk about how the new movie expands on the emotional development of the cast during his appearance on the Light the Fuse podcast.

“When we went into making Fallout , I said to Tom, ‘I really want to make this more of an emotional journey for [Ethan Hunt],'” McQuarrie revealed. “Going into this, I said, ‘I want to take what we learned from Fallout and apply it to every character in the movie. I want everyone to have an emotional arc. … I just want the movie to have more feeling across the board.”

The director also confirmed that artificial intelligence would be a major factor in the film's plot.

Very early conversations, probably the earliest conversations about this were in 2018/2019, and we were looking for the villain, the next threat in Mission . We've done nuclear threats, we've done chemical threats, biological threats, you did the Rabbit's Foot, and God knows what threat that was. In trying to keep it fresh, we were looking outward, and the big conversation I had with Tom [Cruise] very early on was about technology, information technology, and what, now, everyone is talking about is AI.

McQuarrie also noted that casting Esai Morales allowed McQuarrie to tackle Ethan Hunt's past , which figures into the plot in a big way.

“Casting Esai allowed us to explore things with those characters and the notion of Ethan’s past. Ethan has a past that predates the IMF, and that allowed us to explore that with a character that knew Ethan before Ethan was Ethan. That’s part of who Gabriel is. Every detail of the story is very carefully considered. People who want to do their homework can derive from that name, whatever they please.”

Some of you may be wondering what the title Dead Reckoning even means and how it pertains to the plot of the film. In an interview with Empire Magazine McQuarrie hinted that the title refers to a particular deadly source that poses the greatest threat yet to Ethan Hunt and his team.

“There are many things emerging from Ethan’s past. Dead reckoning’ is a navigational term. It means you’re picking a course based solely on your last known position and that becomes quite the metaphor not only for Ethan, but several characters.”

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning has been shrouded in so much secrecy that even Simon Pegg didn't know the name of the film until the trailer was released . During an interview with Collider's own Steve Weintraub for the movie Luck, Pegg said the following:

"Do you know what? I found out on the day of the trailer and not from Chris McQuarrie. I found out from the trailer. No, no one told me. So I texted McQ and was like, ' Dead Reckoning ? Were you going to tell us that at some point?' I heard it was going to be something else, but I like that. I like that because it reminds me of what ... Land of the Dead was originally called Dead Reckoning . So finally, I get to be in a film called Dead Reckoning ."

With recent blockbusters such as John Wick: Chapter 4 , Avatar: The Way of Water , and Oppenheimer all having runtimes that have clocked in over or right under 3 hours, there were rumors floating around that Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One would follow suit. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately for some), the film clocks in at 2 hours and 36 minutes without credits, which still makes it the longest film yet in the franchise.

Yes, a sequel to Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning was announced along with the seventh film. The original plan was to shoot both movies back to back and release Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 on August 5, 2022. Unfortunately, COVID-19 messed up those plans, so the eighth movie was pushed to July 7, 2023, before being pushed again to June 28, 2024. As a result of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the movie has been delayed again, this time to May 23, 2025 . We've also heard that the title may be subject to change as well so stay tuned for more on that.

Screen Rant

Jason statham's next movie could become the franchise tom cruise's jack reacher failed to be.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Jason Statham's Upcoming Thriller Movie Will Be His Version Of Denzel Washington's $573M Franchise

A canceled james bond movie would have done daniel craig's 007 over 10 years earlier, “one of the greatest movies the world will never see”: tarantino’s cancelled 10th movie addressed by studio boss.

• Levon's Trade could fill the void left by Tom Cruise's failed Jack Reacher franchise, offering a darker, grittier thriller with major franchise potential.
• Jack Reacher director Christopher McQuarrie wanted his film to be R-rated but was forced to go for a PG-13.
• Levon's Trade could become the 1970s-inspired thriller franchise McQuarrie wanted Jack Reacher to become.

Jason Statham's upcoming action thriller reunites him with The Beekeeper helmer David Ayer and could become the franchise that Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher failed to be. It's a productive time for Jason Statham action franchises . The Expendables 4 may have been a bomb, but Fast X and Meg 2: The Trench both hit big in 2023. The star also scored a major hit with The Beekeeper , a pulpy action thriller that was a surprise critical and commercial success, with a sequel being in development.

Like any star, Statham has had his ups and downs in the business, but The Beekeeper proved Statham is still going strong over 20 years after his breakthrough with The Transporter . His next project is Levon's Trade , based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Dixon. Ayer will direct the film too, while Statham's Expendables chum Sylvester Stallone penned the screenplay. There are over 10 books in Dixon's Levon Cade series too, so the film has major franchise potential.

Jason Statham will reunite with David Ayer for his next action film, which could fill in the gap left behind by the end of a Denzel Washington series.

Jason Statham's Levon's Trade Could Succeed Where Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher Franchise Failed

Levon's trade is the 1970s-style thriller cruise's jack reacher was aspiring to be, jack reacher.

*Availability in US

Not available

After a mass shooting takes place, homicide investigator Jack Reacher digs into the case to hunt down the sniper who committed the heinous act. Jack Reacher stars Tom Cruise as the titular character and was directed by Christopher McQuarrie. The success of the 2012 film led to a sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, releasing in 2016.

The announcement that Tom Cruise would play Jack Reacher in the 2012 film of the same name was met with howls of outrage by book fans. Cruise is not the hulking 6-foot, 5-inch giant from Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels by any stretch, and while he embodied the character's spirit, the physicality wasn't there. Another issue with Cruise's adaptation is that Jack Reacher's PG-13 rating prevented it from getting as dark as the source material . The Child books can get nasty, but while Christoper McQuarrie's film had some intense sequences, it had to pull its punches.

Levon's Trade is a brutal, unflinching tale. Assuming the film is true to Dixon's source material, it won't be a tongue-in-cheek ride at all and will lean closer to films like 1974's Death Wish or Dirty Harry.

McQuarrie has since lamented that the Jack Reacher movies weren't R-rated, which is a direction he wanted to take the first sequel. He wanted the films to feel like the sort of gritty, R-rated thrillers from the 1970s that he grew up with. That obviously can't happen now, but Jason Statham's Levon's Trade could fill that niche. The Dixon novel is a dark tale where the titular former soldier is hired to find his boss' missing daughter and uncovers a criminal underworld.

In contrast to the more lighthearted Beekeeper , Levon's Trade is a brutal, unflinching tale. Assuming the film is true to Dixon's source material, it won't be a tongue-in-cheek ride at all and will lean closer to films like 1974's Death Wish or Dirty Harry . Those were the kinds of films McQuarrie was aspiring towards with Jack Reacher , but Statham and Ayer's Levon's Trade might have an easier time hitting that target.

Why Reacher Succeeded On Amazon But Failed In Cinemas

Amazon's reacher was allowed to stay true to lee child's books.

Time has been kind to Jack Reacher , and putting aside controversies over Cruise's size and the PG-13 rating, it's a well-constructed thriller with a unique protagonist and some crunchy action. Time has not been kind to the 2016 sequel Never Go Back , with the Ed Zwick-helmed follow-up being a toothless, frill-free bore. The plug was pulled on the Cruise Reacher franchise after two entries , with Amazon's adaptation casting Alan Ritchson as the ex-Army avenger. The first two seasons of Reacher have been huge hits for the streamer, and the show looks set to continue for a long time to come.

Amazon's show has several advantages the Cruise films did not. The first movie needed a big name to draw in audiences, but Ritchson is just a better match for the main character as written. Reacher also has the time to properly explore the books it adapts too, instead of having to drop characters and subplots to meet a two-hour runtime. Unlike the movies, Reacher is allowed to be as gritty and violent as Child's novels , and while it doesn't wallow in violence, it isn't afraid to get its hands dirty either.

Christopher McQuarrie planned to adapt Lee Child's Worth Dying For as his version of Jack Reacher 2 , before exiting the director's chair.

The Beekeeper Proved There Is An Audience For A Levon Cade Franchise

Levon's trade is set up for success.

One thing that McQuarrie pointed out about Jack Reacher is that R-rated action thrillers of a certain budget level didn't really exist back in 2012. It was only due to the success of films like Deadpool or Joker that studios began to see a market for more modestly priced projects (via Empire ). With The Beekeeper , Statham proved that he is still very much a viable leading man, but also there is a niche for the sort of adult action films he made his name on, like Crank .

That's one reason Levon's Trade could spawn the series that McQuarrie wanted his Jack Reacher films to be. The Levon Cade books are very much in the kind of pulp novel vein of the best '70s thrillers, and Statham is one of the few actors who has an inbuilt audience in the action genre on the big screen.

Source: Empire

Levon's Trade

Based on the book series by Chuck Dixon, Levon's Trade is an action-thriller directed by David Ayer and starring Jason Statham as the titular hero. Leaving his black ops life behind him, Levon Cade settles down to care for his daughter and enjoy a civilian life - until his new boss's daughter disappears. Stepping back into his old life to find her, Levon steps into a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to consume everything he loves.