Following years of production woes, Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part One has officially wrapped. After 27 years and six films, Tom Cruise returns to the action-adventure spy franchise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in the first of a two-part entry. Written and directed by Mission: Impossible - Fallout's Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One sees the return of many series regulars, including computer hacker Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames), technical specialist Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).
A year and a half after Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part One wrapped principal photography, McQuarrie took to Instagram to celebrate the official production wrap with a behind-the-scenes photo.
The director stands behind a camera, filming an audio tape recorder resting on a table alongside a photograph of an unknown object. McQuarrie also shares a heartfelt message of thanks to the crew for their tireless work on the film.
Mission: Impossible 7 Had A Long Troubled Shoot
Filming for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One was originally scheduled to begin in February 2020 in Venice, Italy. With the COVID-19 global pandemic taking hold shortly thereafter, production was halted as a safety precaution and for mandatory quarantines. After several weeks of preparation and adjusting to the new reality, production picked back up in the United Kingdom. However, the film was delayed again due to a fire while setting up a motorcycle stunt that severely damaged a set.
Filming officially commenced in September 2020, seven months after principal photography was supposed to begin, but was plagued with stoppages. Several COVID positive crew slowed production over the next few months, resulting in Cruise scolding the team for not following the safety protocols. A train stunt requiring the demolition of a Polish World War II-era bridge resulted in mass protests, petitions, and even a lawsuit, pushing filming of the sequence to an English quarry to be filmed months after intended.
As a result of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One's significant delays, filming wrapped a year after it began, ballooning its budget to nearly $300 million. Intended to be initially released on July 23, 2021, the long-awaited sequel's premiere date was pushed to November 2021, May 2022, November 2022, and finally July 2023. With McQuarrie teasing some of the franchise's most daring stunts and an emotional send-off to the beloved franchise, only time will tell if the prolonged shoot will pay off when Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One lands in theaters in less than three months.
Source: Christopher McQuarrie/Instagram
