Why It Was Almost Impossible to Film Mission: Impossible 7
If there’s one word to describe Tom Cruise, it’s dedicated. The man has been an icon in Hollywood for decades, and he wouldn’t be where he is now if not for the care he’s put into his career. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but everyone agrees that when it comes to cinema, there’s no actor as dedicated as he is. At 61 years old, Cruise is showing no signs of slowing down. After the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise is set to bring another of his mega-franchises back to the cinemas. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One drops in cinemas worldwide this week, to the delight of Mission: Impossible fans who waited five years for a sequel.
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The seventh film in the franchise is expected to be another blockbuster, but it certainly took a while to get there. MI7 officially started filming in February, 2020—and we all know what happened next. COVID-19’s global lockdowns shut down production immediately. After a brief hiatus, MI7 returned to production in July 2020, but filming was riddled with hurdles. A large fire broke out on a motorcycle stunt rig, people tested positive for COVID-19 despite strict quarantine measures, and Tom Cruise was caught in a highly publicized scandal after an audio recording of him screaming at two production crew was leaked to the press. Yet, the cast and crew overcame all of the trials, even the latter. Instead of lambasting Cruise, the majority of the public was on his side as most saw his actions as necessary as the production crew failed to follow COVID-19 rules. MI7 was, at the time, one of the first (and biggest) films to continue filming at the height of the pandemic, and many were looking at MI7’s production as a blueprint to film their own movies during lockdown and the pandemic.
“It's been an amazing adventure through all kinds of challenges. There was the global pandemic and everything that threw us. But what’s brilliant about these movies is how they overcome adversity,” said Simon Pegg, who plays Benji Dunn in the franchise. In a Q&A, Pegg shared how the hurdles only served to make the movie better in the end. And he credits that to his co-star Tom Cruise.
“Tom is the king of turning a crisis into an opportunity. Every time anything goes wrong, he always makes sure it ends up servicing the movie,” said Pegg. “On Fallout, when Tom broke his ankle [jumping from building to building], that ended up saving us in a way because it gave us the space to nail the ending of the movie. On [Dead Reckoning], we started off in Norway in 2020. And I went out there for three weeks and didn’t shoot a frame because the weather was so bad. Then we went to Rome and Venice. Venice was deserted when we were there, which was incredible to see and shoot in, but also brought with it all sorts of practical problems. It’s been a real challenge, but we’ve done nothing but flourish in those circumstances.”
It sounds like it was a mission in itself just to film the movie, never mind all the insane stunts that Cruise was insistent on shooting without CGI. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One has endured a pandemic, global lockdowns, and countless other hurdles, but it seems to have come out of it stronger. Early reviews suggest that the seventh film is the best out of the bunch, and by all accounts, the eighth film might be even bigger.
After filming in Norway, Italy, and the U.K. for Dead Reckoning Part One, the cast and crew are going even more international for Dead Reckoning Part Two.
“We started shooting the next movie officially last year. We’ve been to South Africa and have just been to the Arctic, which was a genuine adventure,” shared Pegg. "We were filming in temperatures of -35, 600 miles from the North Pole, stopping for polar bears.”
If their adventures during production are anything to by, the final product will be worth it. Catch Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One in cinemas nationwide on July 12.
