Summary
In the era of the mega-blockbuster franchises,Mission: Impossibleperhaps doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. For almost thirty years, it has produced summer spectaculars that have wowed audiences, if only to see whateverdeath-defying stunt Tom Cruise will try next. AsMission: Impossible’stime on screen seems to be coming to an end withThe Final Reckoning, it’s the perfect time to reflect on its place in cinema history. The biggest impact the franchise may have had, however, was in shaping two totally unrelated movie series.
Mission: Impossible 2 is No One’s Favorite
It took a while before the franchise found its stride and became the movie series we recognize today, but there was franchise potential from the start. After the success of the first outing in 1996, Cruise had his eyes set on an ambitious sequel. He brought legendary action director John Woo on board to helmMission: Impossible 2.
Despite being the highest-grossing film of the year 2000, Woo’s effort isn’t fondly remembered. For whatever reason, it never quite came. Woo’s signature style seemed to be diluted somehow, and the action was anemiccompared to his other works,likeHard Boiled, The Killer,andFace/Off. Woo would not be asked back to direct a sequel, with J.J. Abrams taking over the director’s chair for the third film in the franchise. Brad Bird would direct the fourth, before the series would fall under the stewardship of Christopher McQuarrie for allsubsequentMission: Impossibleentries.
However, Woo’sMission: Impossibleeffort wasn’t all bad. There were some high points, one of which was the cast. And this is where the story of theMission: Impossiblefranchise’s true impact on cinema begins.
Familiar Faces in Mission: Impossible 2
The film had a host of actors who have gone on to have extremely fruitful careers, mixed in with established cinematic heavyweights. Despite not having the most positive experience making this movie, it marked an early foray into high-profile projects for Thandiwe Newton, for instance.
The movie, which was filmed in Australia, also starred Aussie actor Dougray Scott as the film’s villain, Sean Ambrose — a sort of anti-Ethan Hunt. It’s not uncommon for actors to have multiple projects lined up when signing on to film, and this was the case for Scott. He was locked in to appear in another movie slated to come out the same year, andthat film wasX-Men. Not only that, Ambrose was in fact signed on to play none other than Wolverine.
Anyone who has even glimpsed a cinema in the past 20 years is no doubt aware that Dougray Scott would not end up portraying the iconic mutant superhero. That honor would go to a different Australian thespian. So, what happened?
Filmmaking happened. The production of the secondMission: Impossibleinstallmentran long and began to interfere with Scott’s schedule forX-Men. Efforts were made to accommodate the actor, but ultimately, an injury he suffered filming a stunt forMission: Impossible 2would be the deciding blow. Filming onX-Mencouldn’t wait any longer, and Scott had to bow out. A hasty 11th-hour recast was in order, and one Hugh Jackman ended up landing the role. The rest, as they say, is history.
But this isn’t the only piece ofX-Mencasting that has links toMission: Impossible 2.The troubled production of the film almost impacted a massive fantasy franchise in addition to Marvel’s mutant movie.
Mission: Impossible Almost Fundamentally Changed The Lord of the Rings
There is a small but memorable role inM:I-2played by an uncredited Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins appears as Mission Commander Swanbeck, who lays out the film’s plot to Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and talks him into accepting this particular impossible mission. This role, however, was originally intended for another legendary British actor. The part had been offered to Sir Ian McKellen, but he turned it down. And for the landscape of 21st-century cinema, it’s a good thing he did.
If McKellan had been tied intoM:I-2, its production overrun would have impacted him in a similar way to Dougray Scott. Though the part was small, had McKellen committed to playing Swanbeck, he probably would have found himself unable to start work onX-Men,meaning that someone else would have ended up playing Magneto.
It also would have clashed with the filming schedule for Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptation ofThe Lord of the Rings. It is almost impossible to imagine anyone else playing theiconic role of Gandalf(even if Sean Connery was initially offered a lucrative contract), but that would have been the case had McKellen not passed onM:I-2
Mission: Impossible Inadvertently Shaped Cinema
There are certain actors, no matter how prolific their careers, whom audiences will forever associate with a single role. This is the case with Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman as Gandalf and Wolverine, respectively. Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy is one of the greatest achievements in modern cinema and remains the pinnacle of fantasy filmmaking for many. It’s a huge piece of pop culture. Similarly, Hugh Jackman’s 20+ year stint as Wolverine is tied into the fabric of the success of not just the cinematicX-Menoutings, but live-action superhero movies as a whole.
Each actor was a single part of these respective franchises, but they were important parts. Who knows how the cinematic landscape might have differed if they hadn’t played their respective iconic characters? And this particular ‘what if’ hinges pretty much entirely on the production schedule of theworstMission: Impossiblemovie.
