Mission: Impossible is a living, breathing franchise, to the extent that a lot of the movie’s story is figured out on the go. With Dead Reckoning though, it seems director Christopher McQuarrie and lead Tom Cruise are taking this to the next level. According to a soundbite provided to Collider, McQuarrie and co have yet to finalize on the ending for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two. Put in other words, the climax or conclusion of this two-parter is still up in the air.
Don’t believe me? Here’s what McQuarrie had to say.
I don’t know what the ending of Part Two is, so I couldn’t tell you. I’m not being evasive. I could tell you that I know what the end of Part Two is, but I can’t guarantee that that will be the ending when we get there.
However, McQuarrie was quick to quell any doubts about the director-star simply making stuff up as they go. In that sense, the Mission: Impossible movies aren’t really improvisational; it’s just that they’re fleshed out and planned differently compared to regular movies. McQuarrie explains that while they don’t have a definite ending written out, they do have a plan or direction, so to speak, about where the franchise goes and how the film ends. They just haven’t put together the specifics of it on paper yet.
Tom and I never obsess about executing the plan. We always have a direction, we always have a place we’re going. In our trying to describe the process, in retrospect, it sounds as though what we do is just flying by the seat of our pants and making it up as we go along. That’s not an accurate description. You are definitely flying in a direction, you’re definitely prepared. You couldn’t be that cavalier without somebody getting seriously physically hurt. These things are planned within an inch of their life. Along the way, we see a shiny object and go for it.
That’s certainly an interesting way to approach a franchise, the last entry of which grossed north of $700 million at the worldwide box office. We’re still a few weeks away from Dead Reckoning Part One opening in theaters though. And with the second one being a year out, McQuarrie and Cruise still have plenty of time to figure out the ending and film it, seeing as a lot of the movie is already in the can.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two opens in theaters next year, on June 28, 2024.
