Mission: Impossible (film series)
Mission: Impossible | |
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File:Missionimpossibleblurayboxset.jpg | |
Based on | Mission: Impossible created by Bruce Geller |
Produced by | Tom Cruise |
Starring | |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date | 1996 |
Running time | 769 minutes (all films combined) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | Total (6 films): $828 million |
Box office | Total (6 films): $3.570 billion |
Mission: Impossible is a series of American action spy films both based on and a follow-on from the television series of the same name created by Bruce Geller. The series is mainly produced by and stars Tom Cruise, whose character is Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The films have been directed, written, and scored from various filmmakers and crew, while incorporating musical themes from the original series by Lalo Schifrin.
Beginning in 1996, the films (taking place starting six years after the events of the previous TV sequel series) follow the missions of the IMF's main field team under the leadership of Hunt to stop an enemy force all the while preventing an impending global disaster. The series focuses on Hunt as the lead character as opposed to the ensemble cast structure of the television series, although some characters, such as Luther Stickell (played by Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (played by Simon Pegg) have recurring roles in the films.
The series has received a positive reception from critics and audiences alike, and is the 16th-highest-grossing film series of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $3.5 billion to date[1], and is often cited as one of the best action franchises to date. The sixth and most recent film, titled Mission: Impossible – Fallout, was released in July 27, 2018.
All of the Mission: Impossible films are co-produced and released by Paramount Pictures and are rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association.
Films
Film | U.S. | Director | Screenplay by | Story by | Producer(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mission: Impossible | May 22, 1996 | Brian De Palma | David Koepp and Robert Towne | David Koepp and Steven Zaillian | Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner |
Mission: Impossible 2 | May 24, 2000 | John Woo | Robert Towne | Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga | |
Mission: Impossible III | May 5, 2006 | J. J. Abrams | J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci | ||
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | December 16, 2011 | Brad Bird | Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec | Tom Cruise, J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk | |
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | July 31, 2015 | Christopher McQuarrie | Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pearce | Tom Cruise, J. J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger | |
Mission: Impossible – Fallout | July 27, 2018 | Christopher McQuarrie | Tom Cruise, J. J. Abrams, Christopher McQuarrie and Jake Myers | ||
Mission: Impossible 7 | November 19, 2021 | Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie and Jake Myers | |||
Untitled eighth film | November 4, 2022 | Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger and Jake Myers |
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Ethan Hunt is framed for the murder of his IMF team during a botched mission in Prague and accused of selling government secrets to an arms dealer known only as "Max". On the run, Ethan seeks to uncover the real traitor and clear his name.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Ethan goes back in action and works with professional thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton) as they go undercover to stop rogue IMF agent, and Nyah's former lover, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) from stealing a deadly virus to start a pandemic and sell the antidote to the highest bidder.
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Ethan, retired from being an IMF team leader and engaged to be married, assembles a team to face the elusive arms and information broker Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who intends to sell a mysterious dangerous object known as "The Rabbit's Foot".
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Ethan and the entire IMF are blamed for the bombing of the Kremlin while investigating an individual known only as "Cobalt" (Michael Nyqvist). He and three other agents are left to stop him from starting a global nuclear war.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Ethan Hunt comes under threat from the Syndicate. Faced with the IMF's disbandment, Hunt assembles his team for their mission to prove the Syndicate's existence and bring the organization down by any means necessary.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
When an IMF mission to recover plutonium ends badly, the world is faced with the threat of the Apostles, a terrorist organization formed by former members of the Syndicate. As Ethan Hunt takes it upon himself to fulfill the original mission, the CIA begins to question his loyalty and his motives.
Future
In January 2019, it was announced that both a seventh and an eighth Mission: Impossible are in development with Christopher McQuarrie set to return as well. The projects will reportedly be filmed back-to-back, and are scheduled for July 23, 2021 and August 5, 2022 release, respectively.[2][3] In September 2019, McQuarrie announced on his Instagram account that Hayley Atwell had joined the cast for the seventh film and eighth film, later also confirmed by Atwell herself. In November, McQuarrie also announced that Pom Klementieff had joined the cast.[4] In late December Shea Whigham was confirmed for both upcoming movies.[5] In January 2020, McQuarrie announced that Nicholas Hoult had also joined the cast while Simon Pegg later confirmed his return as Benji that same month.[6][7] In February 2020, McQuarrie announced that Henry Czerny will reprise his role as Eugene Kittridge from the first film with Vanessa Kirby later that month confirming her return as Alanna/White Widow.[8][9] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the films were rescheduled to November 19, 2021 and November 4, 2022 respectively.[10]
Cast and characters
Crew
Crew | Film | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mission: Impossible (1996) |
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) |
Mission: Impossible III (2006) |
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) |
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) |
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) |
Mission: Impossible 7 (2021) |
Mission: Impossible 8 (2022) | |
Executive Producer | Paul Hitchcock | Terence Chang and Paul Hitchcock | Stratton Leopold | Jeffrey Chernov, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake | Jake Myers | David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger | N/A | |
Composer | Danny Elfman | Hans Zimmer | Michael Giacchino | Joe Kraemer | Lorne Balfe | |||
Editor | Paul Hirsch | Christian Wagner and Steven Kemper | Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey | Paul Hirsch | Eddie Hamilton | |||
Cinematographer | Stephen H. Burum | Jeffrey L. Kimball | Dan Mindel | Robert Elswit | Rob Hardy | Fraser Taggart | ||
Production companies | Cruise/Wagner Productions | Skydance Productions TC Productions Bad Robot Productions |
Skydance Media TC Productions | |||||
Distributor | Paramount Pictures |
Reception
Box office performance
Film | Release Date | Budget | Box Office Gross | All Time Ranking | References | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Domestic | International | Worldwide | Domestic | Worldwide | ||||
Mission: Impossible | May 22, 1996 | $80 million | $180,981,856 | $276,714,503 | $457,696,359 | 254 | 244 | [11] |
Mission: Impossible 2 | May 24, 2000 | $125 million | $215,409,889 | $330,978,216 | $546,388,105 | 180 | 181 | [12] |
Mission: Impossible III | May 5, 2006 | $150 million | $134,029,801 | $263,820,211 | $397,850,012 | 453 | 298 | [13] |
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | December 16, 2011 | $145 million | $209,397,903 | $485,315,477 | $694,713,380 | 191 | 121 | [14] |
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | July 31, 2015 | $150 million | $195,042,377 | $487,671,890 | $682,714,267 | 220 | 123 | [15] |
Mission: Impossible – Fallout | July 27, 2018 | $178 million | $220,159,104 | $570,956,000 | $791,115,104 | 163 | 88 | [16] |
Total | $828 million | $1,155,020,930 | $2,415,456,297 | $3,570,477,227 | [17] |
Critical and public response
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
---|---|---|---|
Mission: Impossible | 64% (58 reviews)[18] | 59 (29 reviews)[19] | B+[20] |
Mission: Impossible 2 | 57% (151 reviews)[21] | 59 (40 reviews)[22] | B[20] |
Mission: Impossible III | 71% (224 reviews)[23] | 66 (42 reviews)[24] | A−[20] |
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | 93% (247 reviews)[25] | 73 (47 reviews)[26] | A−[20] |
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | 93% (320 reviews)[27] | 75 (46 reviews)[28] | A−[20] |
Mission: Impossible – Fallout | 97% (425 reviews)[29] | 86 (60 reviews)[30] | A[20] |
Music
Change to theme music
The television version is in a rarely used 5
4 time (an unusual time signature with five crotchets to a bar) and is difficult to dance to,[31] as was proven by a memorable segment of American Bandstand in which teenage dancers were caught off-guard by Dick Clark's playing of the Lalo Schifrin single release.
The opening theme music for the first six films are stylized renditions of Schifrin's original iconic theme, preserving the 5
4 rhythm, by Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, Joe Kraemer and Lorne Balfe, respectively. Most of the versions included in the score also retained the 5
4 time signature.[31]
However, for Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr.'s version featured on the first film's motion picture soundtrack, the time signature was changed to standard pop 4
4 time to make it more dance-friendly, although the intro is still in 5
4 time.[31] The Limp Bizkit song "Take a Look Around" from the soundtrack to the second film was set to a similar 4
4 modification of the theme, with an interlude in 5
4.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Mission Impossible Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 1, 2005. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
- ^ McNary, Dave (February 1, 2019). "Tom Cruise 'Mission: Impossible' Movies Dated for Summers of 2021, 2022". Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
- ^ Cruise, Tom (January 14, 2019). "Summer 2021 and Summer 2022 pic.twitter.com/V6SNvZx2La".
- ^ "Christopher McQuarrie on Instagram: "@pom.klementieff, how do you say femme fatale in French? #MI78"". Instagram. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Christopher McQuarrie on Twitter: "You won't see him coming... #MI78"". Twitter. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- ^ "Christopher McQuarrie on Instagram: "Say, @nicholashoult, care to raise a little hell?"". Instagram. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Gemmill, Allie (January 18, 2020). "It Sure Sounds Like Simon Pegg Announced He's Back for 'Mission: Impossible 7'". Collider. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- ^ "Christopher McQuarrie on Twitter: "There is no escaping the past... #MI7MI8"". Twitter. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ Dela Paz, Maggie (February 7, 2020). "Vanessa Kirby Returning for Mission: Impossible Sequels". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- ^ Rubin, Rebecca (April 24, 2020). "'Mission: Impossible' Sequels Get Pushed Back". Variety. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible (1996)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible II (2000)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible III (2006)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ a b c d e f "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible II Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible III (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible III Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Mission: Impossible – Fallout Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ a b c They Shot, He Scored by Dave Karger. Published June 7, 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2011.