In a couple of weeks, it’ll be time to go rogue.
At least for Ethan Hunt.
Directed by “Jack Reacher” director Christopher McQuarrie, the American action spy film is written by Drew Pearce and Will Staples. Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise will return to reprise his role as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt. He co-produced the film alongside “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” director J. J. Abrams and David Ellison of Skydance Productions.
The plot is follows:
With the IMF now disbanded and Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) out in the cold, a new threat – called the Syndicate – soon emerges. The Syndicate is a network of highly skilled operatives who are dedicated to establishing a new world order via an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Faced with what may be the most impossible mission yet, Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with Ilsa Faust (played by Rebecca Ferguson), a disavowed British agent who may or may not be a member of this deadly rogue nation.
Jeremy Renner (of Marvel’s”The Avengers” fame), Ving Rhames (of “Pulp Fiction” fame), and Simon Pegg (of “Star Trek” fame) are set to reprise their respective roles in the film. Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”), and Rebecca Ferguson (Hercules, The Red Tent) have also officially joined the cast of the film alongside “The Theory of Everything” star Simon McBurney, who is said to be portraying the boss of Ferguson’s character.
You’ve probably already seen the the first teaser trailer, where Tom Cruise got shirtless and death-defying, Alec Baldwin suited up and had on his most menacing look, and the villains were, presumably, villainous.
Now check out these other “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” fun facts before they self-destruct in 5..4..3..
1. Filming for the movie didn’t start until a year after the announcement
Paramount Pictures had announced on 5th August 2013 that Christopher McQuarie would direct and that Tom Cruise would reprise his role as Ethan Hunt. Principal photography began in August 2014 and on 21st August, the first photos from the set in Vienna, Austria were released. “Mission: Impossible” films have had Moscow, Budapest, Prague, Sydney, Burj Khalifa (tallest man-made structure in the world) in Dubai, and Monument Valley, Utah as their locations in the past. This time around, fans can expect to see quite a bit of London, Vienna, as well as Morocco.
2. The release date for “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” was moved up 5 months
On 14th November 2013, Paramount announced that “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” would be released on 25th December 2015. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift for the fans, and it would also give Tom Cruise and his team ample time to fine tune the anticipated sequel before delivery. However, that all abruptly changed. In January 2015, it was announced that the release date was moved up from 25th December to 31st July – that’s 5 whole months! Apparently, it was a decision to avoid clashing with J. J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and which isn’t a bad decision at all.
3. All 5 of the “Mission: Impossible” films had pretty notable directors!
Each of the “Mission: Impossible” films in the entire film series has notable directors. “Mission: Impossible” in 1996 was directed by Brian De Palma (of “Carrie” fame), “Mission: Impossible II” in 2000 was directed by John Woo (of “Face/Off” fame), “Mission: Impossible III” in 2006 was directed by then first-time director J. J. Abrams (of “Star Trek” fame), “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” in 2011 was directed by Brad Bird (of “Tomorrowland” fame), and “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” has award-winning Christopher McQuarrie on the bill. Oh, and Tom Cruise co-produced all of the “Mission: Impossible” films.
5. Tom Cruise had his own stuntman, but he preferred to do his own stunts
For “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”, Tom Cruise had a stuntman named Wade Eastwood on set with him. But you’d be surprised to know that the action scene featuring Ethan Hunt climbing and fighting on the outside of a flying Airbus A400M Atlas was filmed without the use of a stunt double. That scene was filmed at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire in London and at times, Tom would have to perform the sequence suspended with only 2 safety harnesses on the aircraft 5,000 feet in the air. Whoa.
6. A double-decker bus almost flattened Tom Cruise in London
On 2nd December 2014, Tom was almost hit by a double-decker bus while filming a scene in London. According to E! Online, the 52-year-old was filming for “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” in London when he absent-mindedly stepped right in front of the oncoming double-decker bus. Fortunately, the bus driver honked loudly and Tom heeded the warning, stepping out of its path just in the nick of time. Phew, that was close.
7. Tom Cruise had to learn how to hold his breath for 6 whole minutes
For “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”, Tom Cruise trained under diving specialist Kirk Krack. Specifically, breath training. This was to prepare him to hold his breath for 6 minutes to perform an underwater sequence which was filmed in a single long take without any edits/cuts. The reason for no edits/cuts? They just wanted to create a more suspense-filled scene. And just in case you’re thinking, “But 6 minutes isn’t a long time”, try listening to Armin van Buuren and Andrew Rayel’s “EIFORYA” (original mix) and hold your breath all the way through. Yes, exactly.
BONUS: Arnold Schwarzenegger bumped into Tom Cruise during CinemaCon a few months ago. The actors were present to promote their movies, Arnold for “Terminator Genisys” and Tom for “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, respectively. Arnold later posted up a picture of them together:
“Coincidence? No.” 😀
Watch the trailer here:
The upcoming espionage film is currently slated for release on 31st July 2015.
Sources: MI5 Wiki, E! Online, Cinema Blend.
