The Mission:Impossible series of action movies has become synonymous with its daredevil antics, but it seems that the filmmakers almost took a page out of Indiana Jones' de-aging playbook for the latest M:I adventure, Dead Reckoning - Part One. In a surprising revelation, director Christopher McQuarrie shared that there were plans to use the technology on franchise star Tom Cruise for a pivotal sequence set in 1989. But ultimately, the director decided it probably wasn’t the best idea for the series, which puts so much emphasis on practical effects.
According to the filmmaker, he and his team initially looked at the de-aging process for a cold open that would have been a flashback. Speaking to our sister site GamesRadar+ and Total Film, McQuarrie disclosed that he found himself less focused on the story than the technology, which gave him pause. He explained:
We talked about it as a cold open, we talked about it as flashbacks in the movie, we looked at de-aging. One of the big things about [the de-aging] I was looking at while researching, I kept saying, 'Boy, this de-aging is really good' or 'This de-aging is not so good.' Never did I find myself actually following the story.
The longtime Cruise collaborator says he was distracted by how his friend looked after the de-aging process, but he thinks he knows the best way to handle it in the future. For McQuarrie and the Top Gun: Maverick star, never say never because, according to the director, there is still a possibility they could explore a younger Ethan Hunt in the future. He elaborated:
I was so distracted by an actor that I had known for however long was now suddenly this young person. In researching that, I cracked the code – I think – on how best to approach it. By then, we had kind of moved away from it. We may still play with it. We never say never.
Cruise continues to defy age as he effortlessly performs his iconic run and stunts, like the insane halo jump, like someone in their 40s. Unsurprisingly, there's no necessity to de-age him at this point, though it would be kind of fun to see the actor return to the era of the beginning of the franchise. A M:I film set in the 90s could be so much fun.
The film does incorporate a blink-and-you-’ll-miss-it scene featuring the de-aging effect, but the film's antagonist, played by Esai Morales, is the one who undergoes the transformation. Fortunately the shot is fleeting, preventing the unsettling and distracting uncanny effect that can sometimes occur with de-aged scenes. While Ethan Hunt doesn’t appear in the flashback, one can infer that this was probably when his younger self was meant to show up in all his 1989 glory.
You can catch 61-year-old Tom Cruise, sans de-aging, still bringing it in Mission:Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, which has finally landed in theaters. For those with a Paramount+ subscription, all six previous franchise missions are available for streaming. Don’t miss out on what is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated titles among the exciting lineup of 2023 new movie releases.
