

Because they believe in us and what we're doing." There were numerous delays and pivots along the way. "They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. "We are the gold standard," Cruise said in the recording. In December 2020, an audio recording leaked of Cruise yelling at two crew members for not obeying COVID-19 protocols. An already high-stress production became even more tense.

Months later, Cruise and "Dead Reckoning" – a globe-trotting $290 million movie so logistically complicated that it prompted controversy for initial plans to blow up a century-old bridge in Poland – led an industry-wide effort to get movie business back on line during the pandemic. " Mission: Impossible" was one of the first major productions to be shut down by the pandemic. "Dead Reckoning" was just days away from beginning production in Venice when COVID-19 cases began skyrocketing in Italy, an early epicenter. It was also their most nearly impossible mission yet – and not just because of, according to Paramount Pictures, the 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps that Cruise did in preparation for his climactic stunt. Similar to "Maverick," "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" is a state-of-the-art action extravaganza of old-school technique, made with star power, practical effects and stunt work designed to prompt exclamations of "He did what?"

"To be making movies on this scale, you really need to think about, more than anything, the feeling that the audience is left with going away."Ī year after the box-office dominance of "Maverick", McQuarrie and Cruise are back with another high-flying spectacle of daring-do. "'Top Gun: Maverick' really taught us a lot in terms of character dynamics and the emotional payoff of the movie overall," McQuarrie said in a recent interview.
