THE best intentions often come back to haunt you. Go ask Ethan Hunt, the intrepid field agent of the Impossible Mission Force, or IM Force, who now finds himself and his team in a race against time following a mission that goes south.
Opening on July 25 in theaters everywhere from Paramount Pictures and Skydance, Mission: Impossible—Fallout finds Ethan (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) trying to get ahead of an increasingly desperate situation. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.
Over the past two decades, Cruise has produced, starred in and performed in the most mind-blowing stunts in the Mission: Impossible films, a global cultural phenomenon that has grossed more than $2.8 billion worldwide, making it one of the most successful franchises in movie history. Now he returns for a sixth turn as Ethan Hunt.
According to Cruise, Mission: Impossible—Fallout is a culmination of all of the previous films in the series. “You’re going to see characters brought back and storylines brought to a conclusion,” he says. “At the beginning of the film, the book The Odyssey was
chosen for a very specific reason. The journey my character and his team go through is an odyssey inspired by and reflective of that story. It’s an epic personal tale, and there are enormous emotional stakes for the characters.”
Cruise, who launched the franchise in 1996, brings an unparalleled understanding of what makes a Mission: Impossible film work, observes screenwriter and director Christopher McQuarrie. “Tom is the keeper of the flame. He’s an instinctive, very emotional filmmaker. He knows Ethan Hunt, and he knows what makes him an appealing character on a truly instinctive level.”
McQuarrie believes one of the reasons the franchise remains so popular is Cruise’s insatiable desire to make each film more thrilling and intense than its predecessor. “It never stands still,” says the director, who also directed 2015’s Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation. “But most important, it never forgets the audience. Tom is first and foremost an entertainer. Everything he’s doing in the movies is to take you places you’ve never been, to show you things you’ve never seen, and to put you in the experience right there with him.”
For Mission: Impossible—Fallout, McQuarrie was eager to explore a darker and more human side of the film’s central character. “Ethan has always been a bit of a mystery,” he observes. “This time I wanted to be more inside his head and feel his connection with other people. The title refers not only to nuclear fallout but also to the fallout of all of Ethan’s good intentions. He has walked into a situation beyond his control, and he has to go through it even though he knows he’s being manipulated.”
At the heart of the story is a wrenching decision Hunt makes that comes back to haunt him, explains Jake Myers, one of the film’s producers. “In the beginning, we find Ethan in a tough place. He has made a mistake, and he’s encountering elements from his past that have emotional connections. He has to decide: Does he save his friends and family or save perhaps millions from the destructive forces he’s up against? He has a lot of soul searching to do.”
Cruise embodies his character in a way that few action stars ever have, adds Myers. “Tom not only brings great drama to the role, but he has the physical ability to do things another performer would not, both by his training and his daring. I think you can probably separate most other action franchises from their stars, but without Tom there really isn’t an Ethan Hunt, at least not the one audiences worldwide have so wholeheartedly embraced.”
At Cruise’s request, McQuarrie became the first filmmaker ever to return to direct a second Mission: Impossible film. “One of the signature elements of the franchise is that there has been a different director for every movie,” McQuarrie explains. “When Tom asked me to come back and direct this one, I said I would do it on the condition that I could maintain the spirit of that tradition by completely changing the visual language from the previous film. I want people who watch Rogue Nation and Fallout to feel like two different people directed them.”
That was fine with Cruise, who has had a deep admiration for McQuarrie’s ability as a filmmaker since the pair first collaborated on the 2012 action thriller Jack Reacher. “I love working with McQ,” says Cruise. “He is enormously talented. He wanted to change the visual style so it would be as though someone else had directed it, and he succeeded. But it still has his bold storytelling sensibility. I love the toughness of the movie and the characters. We pulled out all the stops. I can’t wait for audiences to see it.”
Over the course of working together on three major action films, McQuarrie and Cruise have developed a close personal and professional bond. “They have a great verbal shorthand,” notes Myers. “In McQuarrie, Tom has found someone he trusts and is very comfortable with. The two of them are constantly working on things, always changing things, which makes it harder to produce but ultimately makes a much better film.”
True to form, McQuarrie, an Oscar winner for his screenplay for The Usual Suspects, continued to make adjustments to the story even as filming progressed. “Chris keeps the script alive,” says Henry Cavill, who plays August Walker, a CIA agent. “He’s a very good writer and extremely intelligent when it comes to characters. He is excellent at putting them into enormously stressful situations that they survive by growing, adapting or evolving. I quite enjoy that as an actor because you are constantly moving and adjusting, much like humans in real life.”
Actress Rebecca Ferguson agrees: “It’s a completely new way of filming for me. I love it because it keeps you on your toes. You just have to let go and be in control of your own character.”
Tom Cruise is, of course, a global cultural icon who has made an immeasurable impact on cinema by creating some of the most memorable characters of all time. Having achieved extraordinary success as an actor, producer and philanthropist in a career spanning over three decades, Cruise is a three-time Oscar nominee and three-time Golden Globe Award winner whose films have earned over $9 billion in worldwide box office—an incomparable accomplishment.
Seventeen of Cruise’s films have grossed more than $100 million in the United States alone, and a record 22 have grossed more than $200 million globally.
Cruise has starred in legendary films, such as Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, Risky Business, Minority Report, Interview With the Vampire, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Rain Man, Collateral, The Last Samurai, Edge of Tomorrow, The Color of Money and the Mission: Impossible series, among many others.
Cruise’s last few films include The Mummy, Oblivion and the suspense thriller Jack Reacher, which earned $218 million worldwide. Prior to that, he made a memorable appearance in Ben Stiller’s comedy smash Tropic Thunder, as the foul-mouthed Hollywood movie mogul Les Grossman. This performance, based on a character Cruise created, earned him praise from critics and audiences as well as his seventh Golden Globe nomination.
Cruise has been honored with tributes ranging from Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year Award to the John Huston Award from the Artists Rights Foundation and the American Cinematheque Award for Distinguished Achievement in Film. In addition to his artistic contributions, Cruise has used his professional success as a vehicle for positive change, becoming an international advocate, activist and philanthropist in the fields of health, education and human rights.
He has been honored by the Mentor LA organization for his work on behalf of the children of Los Angeles and around the world. In 2011 Cruise received the Simon Wiesenthal Humanitarian Award and the following year he received the Entertainment Icon Award from the Friars Club for his outstanding accomplishments in the entertainment industry and in the humanities.
He is the fourth person to receive this honor after Douglas Fairbanks, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. Empire magazine awarded Cruise its Legend of Our Lifetime Award in 2014.
Most recently, Cruise became the first actor to receive The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneer of the Year Award in 2018.