Edgar Wright has completed the impossible: finding a continuity crack in ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’.
Director Christopher McQuarrie revealed to Total Film (via Radar games) that the latest installment in the decade-long franchise about CIA agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has changed dramatically after Wright saw the film.
“Edgar came to one of the last showings (of the film) and asked a simple question about a specific sound – a kind of audio cue – and I thought I answered that note. It was so obvious to me,” McQuarrie said. “But it wasn’t obvious to Edgar.”
He continued, “And when I asked the audience, it wasn’t obvious to them either. No one thought to bring it up until Edgar did. And that changed the whole movie. He changed the whole movie for the better.
McQuarrie added: “You just need honesty, clarity and awareness. No one, including Tom (Cruise), can really sit there and watch the movie 24 hours a day, objectively. Tom and I are going to look into each other’s eyes and say, ‘Do we want to change this? Or is that what we prefer?’”
The production of “Dead Reckoning” included death-defying stunts amid multiple delays caused by COVID. McQuarrie admitted that actress Hayley Atwell was on set for “over 100 days before getting her first dialogue scene, due to the chaotic nature of the production.” The budget has reportedly ballooned to over $290 million, as lead star Cruise reportedly pushed production company Paramount through a lawsuit to secure a longer theatrical window before PVOD streaming.
“It all happened during a very complicated and very uncertain time,” McQuarrie said of Cruise’s infamous COVID-related outburst on set that went viral. “Obviously, we’re grateful that people took to it the way 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 theaters, and we’re still doing it. We’re still there doing it. I’m just glad people understood the intention behind it.”
The film opens in IMAX on July 12, with “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” both opening soon after on July 21.
