Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and the expectedly blockbuster seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. We can catch Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt running, riding motorcycle off cliffs, and looking appropriately pensive when it is released in the United States on July 12, 2023. Written, produced, and directed by Christopher McQuarrie the movie also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Henry Czerny. The production only concluded around 29th April, with all the delays due to Covid.
What little we guess about the plot
Nobody seems to know much about the plot, except for what can be seen in the official trailer, and that Ethan Hunt can be expected to be leading his small, elite, and driven team of Impossible Missions Force (IMF). McQuarrie’s Instagram posts have hinted at something called the Community. This may be anything from an insider power group to a super-secret terrorist organization.
Apparently the secrecy around the movie is so tight that even some of the cast were not aware of the name of the movie “Dead Reckoning”. Apparently the name connects to some of the things which may emerging from Ethan’s past and may become a metaphor not only for Ethan, but several other characters.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 also has another connection to the first movie. Henry Czerny will be returning as Eugene Kittridge, the former director of the IMF who last appeared in the 1996 Mission: Impossible. All this also presumably points towards higher level of emotional stakes of Ethan. Which is not to say that there will be any reduction in the flow of adrenaline in the system. The music of the trailer is also very understated, keeping with the emotional undercurrent theme which the movie wants to establish.
The Most Difficult Stunt Ever
One thing which is definitely know is the motorcycle scene, which was described by Cruise himself as “the most difficult stunt ever”. During CinemaCon 2021, Paramount Pictures unveiled a video showcasing the sequence which involves Cruise riding a motorcycle up a ramp and off a cliff, jumping off said motorcycle, and then parachuting to the ground. In the video, the insane amount of prep which went into making this one scene is shown, apparently starting months beforehand. The shot is also one of the first to be filmed in the movie, presumably setting the (insane) pace for the rest of the shooting.
Troubles during the shoot
Filming on Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 was scheduled to commence in September 2020 in Venice followed by Rome. However, production came to a halt due to the COVID-19 situation in Italy.
UK and Norway gave permission for the crew to begin filming which allowed the crew to begin filming. This was followed by locations in Middle east, and UK for the train wreck scene. After delays caused by crew members being tested positive for Covid, filming began again in Birmingham’s Grand Central Station.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 was to be shot alongside Part 1, and that would have been released on August 5, 2022. But due to the shooting delays due to COVID-19, the eighth movie is now being pushed to sometime in June, 2024.
Reasons to watch
Not that you need any, but the movie promises to deliver thrilling action sequences and a deeper emotional undercurrent from the previous movies. The bar has been continuously raised by Cruise in each of the instalments, and this one does not look like its planning to veer from the set track.