AsMission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Oneraces ever closer to its July 12 release date, the stakes have never been higher in the long-running franchise. In what is to be the seventh film in the series, and the first of a two-part story,Tom Cruisereturns as the premiere action hero Ethan Hunt, joined byHayley Atwellas newcomer Grace. Ahead of the film’s debut next month, a new behind-the-scenes featurette has been released documenting how the filmmakers captured the movie’s high-speed chaos on the streets of Rome.
When it came to developing the film’s high-stakes, intense chase scene, co-writer and directorChristopher McQuarriewas pulling no punches, wanting to take the franchise further than it had even been before; he revealed the intent was to shoot “something with a lot more ambition and unpredictability that we haven’t had in previous chases.” McQuarrie set out to “let the city tell us the kind of chase it was going to be”, and if unpredictability was what the team were looking for, then it’s certainly what they got, as they grappled with the realities of shooting the chase entirely practically, on Rome’s famous cobblestone streets and among the cities “notorious” traffic.
If this wasn’t difficult enough, Cruise and Atwell were handcuffed together while shooting the sequence, only complicating matters further, leaving Cruise only one hand to steer with - “the key is,don’t crash”, he joked. A Fiat 500 car was built specifically for the film, modified to enable it to drive at heightened speeds, which made the car all the more challenging to control. McQuarrie said, “I don’t think we could’ve made a sequence that was more difficult to shoot even if I had gone out of my way to do it,” but assured audiences will be in for a chase to remember, saying, “it has really amazing results.”
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The upcoming film is the hotly-anticipated follow-up to 2018’sMission: Impossible Fallout, withDead Reckoningexperiencing a delay in production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Announced back in 2019,Dead Reckoning - Part OneandTwowere to be filmed back-to-back, with production beginning in Italy in February 2020. However, this was halted, before resuming later in the year and eventually wrapping in September 2021. Joining Cruise and Atwell in the film’s cast areVanessa KirbyasThe White Widow,Ving Rhamesas Luther,Rebecca Fergusonas Ilsa,Esai Moralesas Gabriel, andPom Klementieffas Paris. Also in the film areCary Elwes,Greg Tarzan,Shea Whigham,Henry Czerny, andMariela Garriga. The film was co-written byErik Jendresenalongside McQuarrie, with the latter joined in producing the film by Cruise.David Ellison,Dana Goldberg,Don Granger,Tommy Gormley,Chris Brock, andSusan E. Novickserve as the film’s executive producers.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Onehits theaters on July 12. Check out the featurette below:
