According to director Christopher McQuarrie, it would have been a risky business to reduce Tom Cruise’s age for the latest ‘Mission: Impossible’ film.
Despite a Cruise impersonator appearing in a series of viral TikTok deepfakes with Paris Hilton, McQuarrie felt a flashback sequence in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” was too distracting for viewers.
“Originally, there was a whole sequence at the beginning of the film that was going to take place in 1989,” McQuarrie said. Total film. “We talked about it as a cold opening, we talked about it as flashbacks in the movie, we looked at aging.”
He continued, “One of the big things about (deaging) that I was looking at while researching, I kept saying, ‘Boy, this deaging is really good’ or ‘This deaging is not that good.’ I never found myself really following the story. I was so distracted by how an actor I’ve known for so long was now suddenly this young person.
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However, McQuarrie teases that the production of ‘Dead Reckoning Part One’ has perfected the aging process and may incorporate it into the ‘Part Two’ sequel.
“In researching that (technology), I’ve cracked the code – I think – on how to best approach it. By then, we had kind of gotten away from it,” she said. “We may still play with it. Never say never”.
Lead star Cruise recently said that he hopes to continue making ‘Mission: Impossible’ films into his 80s, similar to how Harrison Ford continued the ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise into his 81st year. concluding with “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”. ”
“Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope I’m still going, ”Cruise said. “I have 20 years to catch up with him.
Ford’s latest (and presumably final) turn as Indy included a flashback sequence featuring cutting-edge anti-aging technology. “Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold told IndieWire that the flashback served as an “energetic homage” to the franchise as a whole.
“I thought there would be a way to take the audience through today’s Harrison era by greeting him first with an energetic homage to the previous films,” said Mangold. “You compare the audience to a young Indy in full bloom and full action, and then you take a sharp turn. She takes it all away and lets the audience address the difference between now and then in a brazen way. This was the cut I was most excited about for the film.
