As filming begins onMISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7(and 8), director
Christopher McQuarrie explains his unorthodox approach to action films
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Inside the McQuarrie method
BREAK IT INTO CHUNKS
“We learned that every movement
of a Mission: Impossible movie is 20
minutes long,” McQuarrie explains.
“The Burj Khalifa [in Ghost Protocol] is;
the opera sequence [in Rogue Nation]
is; the CIA sequence in Langley [in the
1996 original] is. So this time I said,
‘We’re going to make six 20-minute
movies.’ Everything becomes much
more manageable when you’re making
a 20-minute movie!”START WITH LOCATIONS
McQuarrie doesn’t start a Mission
movie with a script. He starts with a
place. Everything else is a moveable
feast. So, even though he signed on to
write and direct 7 and 8 a year or
so ago, he’s spent that time scouting
locations around the world. As for the
plot, well... “I fi gured out the story
about four weeks ago,” he laughs.
“I moved one essential piece of
the puzzle and suddenly was
able to outline the entire movie in
about eight minutes.”CHRISTOPHER McQUARRIE ONCE told Empire
that making a Mission: Impossible movie was
like throwing yourself off a cliff, then trying to
build a plane around you before you hit the
ground. As he puts it: “You do what Mission
wants.” Still, given that the director of the last
two Missions, Rogue Nation and Fallout,
is returning with parts 7 and 8, fi lmed back
to back, he’s clearly at peace with it. “Peace
is not the word,” he tells Empire. “It’s denial.
There are days where, if you think about it, you
will have the most outrageous panic attack
imaginable.” Here’s his unconventional
process for making massive Mission
mega-blockbusters.LET YOUR STAR OFF THE LEASH
Speaking of Ethan Hunt, Cruise will be 60
by the time ‘Mission 8’ is released in 2022. But
he’s not slowing down any. “We’ve fi gured out
three obscene things that he’s doing that I’m
terrifi ed of,” laughs McQuarrie. “He’s training,
and he calls me and describes what he’s doing,
and I laugh and I cheer and I hang up and puke
into a bucket.” But if you think that the
escalation of Ethan’s derring-do can mean only
one thing, McQuarrie has bad news for you.
“He’s not going to space,” he say. “Nor does
he need to go to space. What’s beyond that?
Plenty.” We’ll fi nd out for sure starting
from next year. CHRIS HEWITTMISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 IS IN CINEMAS FROM 22 JULY 2021CAST FIRST, WRITE LATER
McQuarrie has added Hayley Atwell and Nicholas
Hoult to the sequels, in roles he can’t confi rm yet.
“An article online said, ‘Hayley Atwell’s character
revealed!’” McQuarrie says. “I was laughing because
Idon’t know what she’s doing in the movie!’” But he
caused a stir by casting Henry Czerny — Ethan’s IMF
nemesis, Kittridge, in the original. Calling Kittridge a
“meddler”, McQuarrie said that the character only fully
came into his thoughts recently. “I realised Kittridge
had to be right in a scene, and it was transformed.”
Portrait: Marco Vittur. Getty ImagesMaybe this time he will get to see Ethan Hunt upset.
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