Christopher McQuarrie reveals early screening of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning almost gave someone a heart attack.
We can always count on Tom Cruise and the Mission: Impossible franchise to present us with some death-defying action sequences, but from the sounds of things, The Final Reckoning is going take that to the next level. While speaking with Empire (via GamesRadar), director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that a screening of “the most difficult thing” they’ve done in the franchise got quite the reaction, nearly prompting a myocardial infarction in one member of the audience.
“We had a small screening and someone said, ‘I was suffocating throughout the entire sequence. I almost had a heart attack.’ And I thought, ‘I guess we did something right,” McQuarrie said.
The teaser trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning includes several impressive stunts, including Tom Cruise hanging off the side of a biplane and some nail-biting underwater scenes. Will any of these be heart-attack-worthy? Do I need to have a check-up with my doctor before the movie?
We still don’t know a whole lot about The Final Reckoning, only that it will follow the story set up in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, in which Ethan and his team were tasked with stopping the Entity, a rogue AI capable of controlling global defence intelligence and financial networks. The film was originally titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, but after the first movie was perceived to be a box-office disappointment, Paramount rethought its approach. When production on the new movie was forced to shut down due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the studio pushed the release date and announced that it would receive a new title.
In addition to Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, The Final Reckoning features several returning cast members, including Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Vanessa Kirby, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, and Frederick Schmidt. New additions include Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Katy O’Brian, and Tramell Tillman.
There have also been rumours that The Final Reckoning will include a sequence with a young Ethan Hunt. The previous film did include a few nods to Hunt’s backstory, so it’s possible this might be explored further in the new movie.
The Final Reckoning will hit theaters on May 23rd.
