In January 2019, Cruise announced that the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible films would be shot back-to-back with McQuarrie writing and directing both films. Returning and new cast members were announced soon after, and Lorne Balfe, who composed the score for Fallout, returned to score the film. Filming began in Italy in February 2020 but was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed later that year and wrapped in September 2021 with other filming locations, including Norway, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates. It is the first film in the series since Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) not to involve J. J. Abrams in any capacity and is also the first film in the series to not be produced by Bad Robot Productions since Mission: Impossible III (2006). With an estimated budget of $291 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made, and the most expensive in the franchise.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiered on the Spanish Steps in Rome on June 19, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 12, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. It has received widespread acclaim from audiences and critics alike.[6][7][8][9] and has grossed $373 million worldwide. A direct sequel, Dead Reckoning Part Two, is set to be released on June 28, 2024.
Plot
The next-generation Russian submarine Sevastopol employs an advanced AI for testing a new navigation system that uses dead reckoning. The AI tricks the crew into firing a torpedo and then turns the torpedo back on the submarine, sinking it and killing all aboard.
IMF agent Ethan Hunt is assigned to retrieve half of a cruciform key from Ilsa Faust, on whom the IMF has placed a bounty. He travels to Saudi Arabia to obtain the half-key from Ilsa. He then infiltrates a meeting of leaders of the U.S. Intelligence Community in Washington, D.C., including CIADirector Eugene Kittridge and Director of National Intelligence Denlinger, to discuss the rogue AI. Calling it the Entity, they recount how it has achieved sentience and infiltrated the major defense, military systems, intelligence, and financial networks of the world. World powers compete to obtain the key to protect their national security and control the Entity, though the exact means of controlling it are unknown. Believing the Entity poses too great a threat to humanity, Ethan seeks to destroy it.
He and his teammates Benji Dunn and Luther Stickell travel to Abu Dhabi International Airport to intercept the holder of the other half-key. Ethan evades U.S. agents as well as Gabriel, an Entity liaison with ties to Ethan's pre-IMF past, while the half-key is stolen by a professional thief named Grace. Luther identifies a suspicious piece of baggage; Benji finds what appears to be a nuclear explosive, but finds it empty after narrowly defusing it. Ethan pursues Grace to Rome. After a lengthy chase, Grace escapes again, while Ethan reunites with Benji, Luther, and Ilsa.
With Benji and Luther providing support, Ethan and Ilsa infiltrate a party held by the arms dealer, Alanna Mitsopolis, in Venice, hoping to find who hired Grace and learn of the key's purpose. Grace encounters Gabriel and learns that Alanna hired her to steal the half-key. Ethan unsuccessfully attempts to dissuade a fearful Alanna from selling it. Gabriel reveals that the Entity has infiltrated the party and determined that one of Ethan's allies, either Ilsa or Grace, will die. They all scatter afterward, with Ethan subduing but sparing Gabriel's subordinate, Paris, while Gabriel subdues Grace and kills Ilsa, devastating Ethan. A remorseful Grace joins Ethan's team, and they prepare to board the Innsbruck-bound Orient Express, where Alanna will meet with her buyer. Luther leaves for an off-grid location to investigate isolated traces of the Entity in his hard drive, warning Ethan not to kill Gabriel out of vengeance, as only Gabriel knows how to use the key.
On the train, Gabriel kills the engine crew and destroys the throttle and brake. He meets Denlinger, who proposes an alliance between himself and the Entity. Denlinger explains that the complete key unlocks the chamber housing the computer of the Sevastopol, which contains the early version of the Entity that can be used to control or destroy it, once and for all. Gabriel kills Denlinger and, suspecting Paris will betray him after Ethan spared her in Venice, attempts to kill her as well. Impersonating Alanna, Grace brings the complete key to Alanna's buyer, revealed to be Kittridge. Though tempted to betray Ethan for $100 million and protection for herself, Grace decides against it, pickpockets the key from Kittridge and flees. Ethan parachutes off a cliff onto the train to save Grace from her pursuers, but Gabriel acquires the key.
Ethan overpowers Gabriel atop the train, but the latter escapes and detonates a bridge ahead. Grace and Ethan detach the locomotive from the rest of the train, saving all the passengers. A revived Paris rescues them from falling off the bridge and reveals the key's connection to the Sevastopol. Ethan flees the train with the complete key, which he had pickpocketed from Gabriel during their skirmish. Grace informs Kittridge that she has chosen to join the IMF.
Hayley Atwell as Grace, a thief and Ethan's new ally. Christopher McQuarrie described Atwell's character as a "destructive force of nature," while Atwell explained that her character's loyalties are "somewhat ambiguous."[10][11]
Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, an IMF computer technician, Hunt's best friend and a member of his team.
Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, an IMF technical field agent, Hunt's friend and a member of his team.
Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis, a black-market arms dealer and broker who goes by the alias "White Widow." Alanna is the daughter of Max, a deceased arms dealer originally portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave from the first film.
Esai Morales as Gabriel, a powerful terrorist and Ethan's adversary who appears to be working with the Entity, an all-powerful AI system, to rule the world. He and Ethan had a fateful encounter with each other prior to Ethan becoming an IMF agent.[12]
In February 2019, Rebecca Ferguson confirmed her return for the seventh installment.[22][23] In September, McQuarrie announced that Hayley Atwell had joined the cast.[24] In September 2019, Pom Klementieff joined the cast of both the seventh and eighth films.[13] In December 2019, Simon Pegg confirmed his return for the film, with Shea Whigham cast of both films.[25][26]Nicholas Hoult was cast in a role in January 2020, along with the addition of Henry Czerny, reprising his role as Eugene Kittridge for the first time since the 1996 film.[27][28]Vanessa Kirby also announced she was returning for both films.[29] In May 2020, it was reported that Esai Morales would replace Hoult as the villain in both films due to scheduling conflicts.[30]
Under the working title Libra,[33] filming was scheduled to begin on February 20, 2020, in Venice, set up to last for three weeks before moving to Rome in mid-March for 40 days,[34][35] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, production in the country was halted.[36] Three weeks later, stunt rehearsals began in Surrey, England, just before a hiatus.[37] On July 6, 2020, after another hiatus, crew arriving in the UK were given permission to begin filming without going through the mandatory 14-day quarantine. The set was located at Warner Bros Studios, Leavesden in Hertfordshire.[38]
The following month, similar permission was granted for filming in Møre og Romsdal, Norway.[39] That same month, a large fire broke out on a motorcycle stunt rig in Oxfordshire. The scene had taken six weeks to prepare and was "among one of the most expensive ever filmed in the U.K." No one was hurt in the incident.[40]
Filming began on September 6, 2020,[41] when McQuarrie started to publish pictures from the sets on Instagram.[42] The film was shot with Sony CineAlta Venice cameras, making it the first film in the Mission: Impossible franchise to be shot digitally. In September 2020, filming took place in Norway, including the municipalities of Stranda and Rauma, with Cruise seen filming an action scene with Esai Morales atop a train.[43] On October 26, 2020, production was halted in Italy after 12 people tested positive for COVID-19 on set. Filming resumed a week later.
In December 2020, during filming in London, an audio recording of Cruise shouting at two production crew members for not following the COVID-19 rules on set was released online.[44] Cruise was likened to his character Les Grossman from Tropic Thunder (2008) as a result.[45][46] The response from the general public and that of many celebrities was supportive, suggesting that his tone and seriousness were warranted given the extreme circumstances and burden of ensuring production not be halted again.[47][48] On December 28, 2020, Variety reported that the film would conclude principal photography at Longcross Film Studios in the United Kingdom, with production shifting from Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. In Longcross, which is in Surrey in south-east England, productions were allowed to continue under strict COVID-19 protocols.[49] In February 2021, filming concluded in the Middle East and the crew would return to London for "finishing touches".
On April 20, 2021, filming commenced in the small village of Levisham, North Yorkshire, North Yorkshire Moors Railway,[50] for a sequence set in the Alps in Switzerland with a train going 60 miles (97 km) an hour through a bridge being blown up,[51][52] as a reference to the climactic train wreck scene in the silent film The General (1926).[53] In August 2021, filming commenced in Birmingham at the city's Grand Central shopping centre, with Cruise and Atwell spotted by onlookers.[54] In September 2021, the film's gaffer Martin Smith confirmed on Instagram that principal photography had officially wrapped.[55]
Other filming locations for the movie included a terminal still under construction at the Abu Dhabiairport[56] and various sites in the Italian cities of Rome (including the 20-minute long car chase)[57] and Venice.[58]
Officially opened in 1912 by Wilhelm II, the proposed bridge survived World War II mostly intact,[64] and was used by trains until 2016.[65] Despite publicly praising the bridge as "extremely valuable,"[66] an expert misrepresented conclusions of a commissioned report,[67] that instead of renovating, it would be best to demolish the bridge and build a new one.[68][69] In March 2020, after the rejected Eksner spread the information,[53] local authorities and museum officials were appalled by the producers' intention to physically destroy the bridge, instead of using CGI effects.[60][70] The filmmakers and government officials said the bridge was intended for demolition.[65]
In August 2020, as the story turned international,[78][79] McQuarrie said there was never a plan to blow up the bridge, and that only unsafe and partially damaged portions could have been destroyed, which allegedly needed to be rebuilt, concluding: "To open up the area to tourism, the bridge needed to go."[80] He later added that "there was no disrespect intended".[81][better source needed] The production company did not pledge to cover construction costs of a potential new bridge, nor the renovation of the historic one.[65] Eventually, cultural property registration procedures for the Lake Pilchowickie bridge were finalized, effectively preventing it from any damage.[82] In May 2021, Eksner sued the Paramount production crew including McQuarrie and Cruise for breach of contract.[83]
Ultimately, filming of the train wreck scene was expected to take place between April and June 2021, in the Peak District National Park in Stoney Middleton, on a constructed set in a disused quarry, with a railway line and part of a bridge over the cliff edge.[84] After two weeks of suspended filming,[85] the scene was filmed on August 20, when a mockup Britannia Class locomotive was propelled off the cliff into the quarry.[86][87]
Post-production
Industrial Light & Magic returns to provide the visual effects for the film, after doing so for the firstMission: Impossiblefilm (1996), Mission: Impossible III (2006) and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), with BeloFX, Blind LTD, Clear Angle Studios, and Halon Entertainment being the additional vendors for the film.[88][89][90] In one of the later test screenings for the film held by McQuarrie, Edgar Wright asked him about a specific audio cue that McQuarrie felt obvious but upon Wright's question, realized that the audience hadn't noticed it, which led him and Cruise to change the "entire" movie.[91]
In early May 2020, Lorne Balfe was confirmed to be returning to compose the score for the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible films, after previously doing so for Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018).[92] Balfe's music from the teaser trailer was digitally released as a single on June 23, 2022, through Paramount Music.[93]
Release
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One had its world premiere on the Spanish Steps in Rome on June 19, 2023, and was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on July 12,[94] with special "Early Access Fan Event" screenings held on July 10.[95] It was released in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, ScreenX, RPX, and other premium formats.[96] It was previously set to be released on July 23, 2021,[97] November 19, 2021,[98] May 27, 2022[99] and September 30, 2022,[100] before being delayed to July 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and production shutdowns.[101][102] In April 2023, Paramount announced at CinemaCon that the film would be released two days earlier on July 12.[94] The November 2021 and May 2022 release dates were given to Top Gun: Maverick (2022), another film starring Cruise that was also delayed by the pandemic.[98][99] It premiered in Sydney, on July 3, 2023, with a release in Australian cinemas on July 8, 2023.[103]
Marketing
A trailer for the film debuted exclusively at CinemaCon on April 28, 2022, including an introduction by Cruise filmed while he was flying in a biplane.[104] The trailer was leaked to social media on May 21, 2022,[105] and was officially released online on May 23, 2022.[106] The CinemaCon introduction was released officially on September 8, 2022.[107] Sam Barsanti of The A.V. Club gave the trailer a positive review and highlighted the many action scenes in it.[108]JoBlo.com also gave the trailer a positive review, saying that the "action on display is truly amazing" and praising Cruise's dedication to entertaining.[109]
A behind-the-scenes look at the film first debuted in front of IMAX screenings of Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).[110][111] The full preview was released online four days later, on December 19, 2022.[112]
In Japan, the movie received a collaboration project with the movie Spy × Family Code: White from the anime series Spy × Family. The projects revealed a parody poster, in which the main characters from the anime series replace the movie cast, and also released a "collab highlights video", narrated by the voice actors of the anime.[113][114][115]
Reception
Box office
As of July 24, 2023[update], Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has grossed $121 million in the United States and Canada, and $252.1 million in other territories, for worldwide gross of $373.1 million.[3][4]
In the United States and Canada, Dead Reckoning Part One was initially projected to gross around $90 million from 4,327 theaters over its first five days, as well as another $160 million from 70 international territories, for a five-day worldwide debut of around $250 million.[2] The film made $15.5 million on its first day (including $7 million from Tuesday night preview screenings), and $8.3 million on its second. After making $16.7 million on Friday, weekend and five-day estimates were lowered to $54 million and $78 million, respectively.[116] The film went on to debut to $54.7 million in its opening weekend and a total of $78.5 million over its first five days, just behind the second film's $78.8 million in 2000.[117] While the film fell short of expectations after it "turned out a much lower opening weekend than expected",[118][119][120]Deadline Hollywood noted that unlike Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), another near-three hour film that cost around $300 million and opened to $84 million over its first five days, Dead Reckoning Part One benefitted from better critic and audience scores, and noted that Cruise's films normally hold steady at the box office in subsequent weeks.[121] The film dropped 65% to $19.4 million in its second weekend, finishing fourth behind newcomers Barbie and Oppenheimer as well as holdover Sound of Freedom.[122][123]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 393 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's consensus reads: "With world-threatening stakes and epic set pieces to match that massive title, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One proves this is still a franchise you should choose to accept."[124]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 66 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[125] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 90% of filmgoers gave it a positive score.[116]
In a positive review for The Guardian, Mark Kermode gave the film four out of five stars, applauding Cruise for his acting in the film, while also praising the film for its "join-the-dots plot" and "thrilling" action.[126] Similarly, Todd McCarthy for Deadline Hollywood and Siddhant Adlakha for IGN found that the film represents "Hollywood action filmmaking at its peak" and that "if every tentpole franchise entry were this fun and finely tuned, the theatrical-versus-streaming debate would be immediately put to rest".[127][128] Brian Truitt for USA Today lauded the action sequences, saying "it's the first half of a man vs. machine epic that doesn't skimp in the thrills department. Just don't think too hard about it, though you'll probably still give serious side-eye to your laptop."[129]
In a mixed review for The Curb, Nadine Whitney criticized the film's "slow and sloppy pacing".[130]
A direct sequel, Dead Reckoning Part Two, is scheduled to be released on June 28, 2024, after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[99] It was initially billed that both films will be a send-off to Ethan Hunt.[132] In June 2023, McQuarrie told Fandango that Part One and Part Two would not end the series, and they were developing ideas for future installments.[133] In July 2023, during promotion for Part One, Cruise expressed interest in continuing to make further films in the series as Hunt.[134]
^ abMadrjas, Jakub (July 29, 2020). "Posłowie i samorządowcy bronią mostu w Pilchowicach" [MPs and Local Government Officials Defend the Bridge in Pilchowice]. Rynek Kolejowy (in Polish). Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
^Hildebrand, Kathleen (August 4, 2020). "Filmdreh in Polen – Tom Cruise vs. Denkmalschutz" [Film Shoot in Poland – Tom Cruise vs. Monument Protection]. Süddeutsche.de (in German). Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.