Mission: Impossible Director Reveals Why Dead Reckoning is Two Parts

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now playing in theaters, and it marks the third film of the Tom Cruise-led franchise to be helmed by Christopher McQuarrie. It's also the first time that a Mission: Impossible story has been split into two parts. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two is scheduled to be released next June, but that will likely be pushed back because the production is currently on pause due to the WGA and SAG strikes. Recently, McQuarrie spoke with Collider and explained why Dead Reckoning has been split into two parts.

"Well, we knew with Fallout. Fallout really grew because of all the character and emotion we were putting into the story, all the things that we had discovered in Rogue Nation that was so unexpected," McQuarrie explained. "I knew I wanted to expand the cast, and I knew I wanted to give each one of those characters more to do, so I knew the movie was going to be bigger and longer than Fallout."

He continued, "And at which point I said, 'Why are we fighting this? Why are we going to try to jam this into two hours? Let's just break it in half and make it two movies.' That really was the rationale behind it being a two-part movie. It just it wasn't just that the story was bigger but that we wanted more emotion in the movie." He added, "At that time, the studio were actually very genuinely excited about it ... And, you know, I think we were excited about it too. And then there were times when we were on set, and Tom would look at me, and he'd say, 'This was your idea. Just remember that.'"

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has gotten rave reviews, but it hasn't had a very successful run at the box office. The movie is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive 96% critics score and a 94% audience score, but it's just not matching the success of other July releases such as Barbie and Oppenheimer. However, the movie isn't exactly a flop, and even reached a box office milestone this week. According to Collider, the seventh Mission: Impossible film has now made $450 million worldwide.

While $450 million after three weeks isn't exactly terrible, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the second-lowest-grossing movie in the franchise. The last installment, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, remains the highest-grossing movie in the franchise with a total of $791 million worldwide. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation made $688 million worldwide, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol made $694 million worldwide, and Mission: Impossible II earned $550 million worldwide. The original Mission: Impossible earned $457 million worldwide, which means Dead Reckoning Part One is guaranteed to beat its numbers, however, the first movie was a much bigger success than the current installment when adjusted for inflation. That just leaves Mission: Impossible III, which earned the lowest of the franchise at $399 million worldwide.

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which premiered in theaters on July 12th. It's the beginning of the end for the action-packed franchise, as Cruise reteams with longtime collaborator and filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie for more death-defying and breathtaking stunts. Hunt and allies Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) attempt to track down a new weapon with the power to tear the world apart. Actors Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales join the cast for the latest installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which is set to wrap up with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.

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