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For normal people, the idea of arguing with Tom Cruise, the most recognisable and bankable face on the planet, sounds a lot like the actor’s iconic film franchise: Mission: Impossible.
But for Christopher McQuarrie, arguing with Cruise isn’t just possible; it’s part of the job.
“Oh yeah, Tom and I argue all the time,” laughs McQuarrie. “It’s not about being right or wrong; it’s about arguing on the audience’s behalf.”
Tom Cruise in Sydney for the premiere of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning.
The American director is in Sydney to promote Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, the seventh film in the highly successful franchise (part two will come out next year, with McQuarrie writing and directing both films), ahead of the film’s Australian premiere on Monday.
It’s the latest in a long line of Cruise collaborations for McQuarrie, dating back to 2008’s Valkyrie, including Jack Reacher, Edge of Tomorrow, The Mummy, Top Gun: Maverick and the last two Mission: Impossible films, Rogue Nation and Fallout.
So if anyone is best placed to butt heads with Cruise, it’s McQuarrie.
“The good thing is we can argue, and there is no ego, no pulling rank; it’s about what best tells the story,” he says. “We have a great relationship; I often describe it as one long conversation about movies occasionally interrupted by making a movie.”
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One
As far as interruptions go, Dead Reckoning is a big one. Cruise returns as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, alongside newcomers Haley Atwell and Pom Klementieff, with Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby reprising their roles.
The film hits cinemas on July 8, but pre-production started in 2019 before experiencing significant delays due to the pandemic. Shot with a budget of $290 million, it is set to be one of the year’s biggest box office releases, a film designed to drag audiences back into cinemas.
According to McQuarrie, that has been the aim of his leading man all along.
“These are the kinds of movies we need right now, we’re looking at an industry hanging on by its fingernails, and Tom is doing everything he can to bring people back to the theatre,” he says.
Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on the set of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. .
That’s no understatement. From driving motorbikes off cliffs to base jumping onto a moving train, Dead Reckoning is a testament to Cruise’s willingness to try anything once. “We actually did the cliff thing six times,” laughs McQuarrie.
Completing his own stunt work has become a part of the Cruise mythology; he famously broke his right ankle during a roof-jumping stunt on Mission: Impossible 6.
For a director, it sounds like a working nightmare, a hugely famous lead determined to do everything himself. “It’s stressful, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, and neither would Tom; it’s all very considered,” says McQuarrie.
“The other day, someone made a comment about him being fearless, and he said, ‘It’s not that I am not scared; it’s that I don’t mind being scared,’ and that’s the difference. People assume Tom Cruise is a daredevil, but he’s just dedicated to confronting the fear.’”
At 61, Cruise may soon need to confront a different fear; getting older. He remains the world’s most bankable and daring action star, with contemporaries like Stallone and Schwarzenegger no longer vying for box office dollars.
But with Dead Reckoning set to be a two-part epic, might Cruise call it a day after this?
“Even if I knew the answer to that question, I couldn’t be sure because I’ve learned that with Mission: Impossible and with Tom, you just don’t know what will happen when we wrap,” says McQuarrie.
Should the impossible become possible and age catches up with Cruise, the franchise could have ready-made replacements in British actress Atwell and French Avengers star Klementieff.
Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Tom Cruise and Pom Klementieff.
Atwell plays Grace, a sleight-of-hand expert who ends up working alongside Ethan Hunt, while Klementieff is Paris, a French assassin tasked with hunting the pair. Both hold their own in Dead Reckoning, undergoing five months of intense training before filming commenced.
“I certainly learned a lot, but this series is so synonymous with Tom; if there were a spin-off, it wouldn’t be the classic Mission: Impossible world,” says Atwell.
“There would have to be some understanding that it is new territory, but it could work; I don’t know if I am prepared to jump off a cliff.
Klementieff agrees, adding: “The way the females are developed makes them powerful and have their agency; they never depend on the man, they aren’t girlfriends, and much of that comes down to what Tom wants.”
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I will always be ready to play Paris.”
How Dead Reckoning Part One will perform remains to be seen, but the bar has been set high. The previous MI film, Fallout, had a total worldwide gross of US$791 million against a production budget of $178 million, becoming the franchise’s highest-grossing film so far.
Dead Reckoning opens two weeks before both Barbie and Oppenheimer, two of the other most hyped films of the year. But if he’s feeling the pressure, McQuarrie does an excellent job of hiding it.
“Ultimately, Barbie and Oppenheimer are also movies made by people who want to make movies for the audience, not an audience, and that is the smart thing; that’s what we’re all trying to do; more power to them.”
Hard to argue with that.
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is in cinemas from July 8.
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