Mission: Impossible was not only a great film that spawned an incredible franchise, but was a turning point in the career of Tom Cruise. The actor is now known as one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and while he burst onto the scene in the ’80s with performances in films like Risky Business, Top Gunand Rain Man, by the time the 90s hit the Hollywood landscape was changing, and Cruise was in danger of being usurped by Hollywood’s hot new star: CG visual effects. But by making his producing debut on Mission: Impossible and taking a stronger hand in the creative side of filmmaking, Cruise ensured his own success for years to come – in ways both for good and for ill.
Paramount Pictures began developing a big-screen adaptation of Mission: Impossible as early as 1991, and Cruise’s involvement first bubbled up in 1993 when Paramount was courting the A Few Good Men actor for a new project. It was at that point that Cruise sparked to the Mission: Impossible property, not only as a performer but also as a producer. It was also at that point that Hollywood was in the middle of a massive evolution. 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day introduced the world to the first fully CG character, and 1993’s Jurassic Park perfected this new technology by bringing dinosaurs to life. Suddenly Hollywood was all about CG-driven blockbusters, and over the next few years the box office would be overrun by films like Independence Day, Twisterand Armageddon – where the spectacle was just as big (or bigger) as the movie stars.
Cruise was certainly no stranger to box office or commercial success, but by the late 80s and early 90s he was branching out into challenging dramatic territory in films like Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of Julyand The Firm. As he looked towards the future of his career, he decided to take matters into his own hands by producing a film that would be a blockbuster, yes, but would also have a strong cinematic bent. And that’s where Brian De Palma comes in.
Cruise recalled that he was inspired to hire De Palma for Mission: Impossible after spending an evening with the director over at Steven Spielberg‘s house one night (as one does). De Palma is an author known for bold films like Blow Out and Carrie – accepted Cruise’s mission, but it’s no secret that the development and production of Mission: Impossible was intense. So intense that at one point, De Palma had two separate screenwriters (Robert Towne and David Koepp) working on separate drafts of the script in separate hotel rooms at the same time.
By all accounts, Cruise was always interested in moviemaking. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recalled that Cruise was even involved in the scripting phase of Top Gunand Cruise is the one who pushed to get Days of Thunder off the ground. He was always eager to take a strong creative role in a majority of his films, and with Mission: Impossible he would finally make it official by becoming a producer.
But while De Palma was the director, Cruise was the captain of the ship, and De Palma makes clear in the documentary De Palma that Cruise was ultimately calling the shots on Mission: Impossible. It was a creative partnership to be sure, but when disagreements occurred, it was ultimately Cruise’s call. One thing the two agreed wholeheartedly on was embracing practical effects and stunts, as the first Mission: Impossible eschewed Hollywood’s newest trend in favor of nail-biting sequences that could largely be completed practically.
Cruise certainly charted his own career path before Mission: Impossible, but it was during and after this film that he became even more pro-active not just in what kinds of films he would make, but how they would be made. His collaboration with Cameron Crowe on 1996’s Jerry Maguire was so fruitful that when they reteamed on 2001’s Vanilla Sky, Cruise produced the film and helped creatively shape it. Even on Stanley Kubrick‘s Eyes Wide Shutthe epically long production was very much a collaboration between Cruise, Kubrick, and Nicole Kidman.
And of course when it came to the Mission: Impossible franchise – specifically when it was time to make a sequel – Cruise made a concerted effort to go a very different way for Mission: Impossible IInot only hiring John Woo to direct but encouraging him to make the film his own. To not try and fit De Palma’s style, but make a John Woo Mission: Impossible movie. This trend would continue on every Mission sequel, even when Christopher McQuarrie became the first director to helm more than one Mission movie – when McQ returned for Mission: Impossible – Fallout after crafting the classical, somewhat throwback Rogue Nationhe did so under the condition that he would change up his style and create a different kind of M: I movie. That mission was successful.
Indeed, Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 Both on the horizon are said to include Cruise’s most dangerous stunt of his career – 25 years after this franchise first began. Cruise has always steered Mission: Impossible towards success, empowering filmmakers like JJ Abrams and Brad Bird to bring their own passions and points of view to the table, resulting in tonally diverse films. And to the most extreme, when Cruise’s career was spiraling downwards due to a couple of subpar films (looking at you Lions for Lambs) and his personal life, 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol brought him back to the top – literally. For the fourth Mission film, Cruise performed a jaw-dropping stunt in which he hung off the tallest building in the world.
But one could argue that Mission: Impossible also changed Cruise’s career for the worse, though not right away. The movie very much positioned Cruise as an action star, but in its immediate wake he continued working on more dramatic projects with interesting directors like Crowe, Kubrick, and Paul Thomas Anderson. But as the Hollywood marketplace became more and more saturated by blockbusters in the early 2000s – especially in the wake of the superhero boom of X-Men and Spider-Man – Cruise fell back on this “action star” moniker at the expense of more interesting dramatic work.
So as Cruise took a more commanding creative role in the films he chose, he also made the decision to turn his back on straight dramas after the disappointments of Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie. One could argue that films like Jack Reacher or American Made let Cruise flex his dramatic talent (which is immense), and one would be correct, but those films are still wrapped up in “entertaining action” packaging – punching people in Jack Reacherand flying planes in American Made. I adore Christopher McQuarrie and his collaborations with Cruise, but the actor has not come close to making anything as exciting or dangerous or emotionally vulnerable as Magnolia or Eyes Wide Shut or Collateral since those films came out.
And yet it is an entirely conscious decision. Cruise has basically CG-proofed his career, continuing to push jaw-dropping practical effects in “audience-first” movies that succeed at the box office. In an age in which the term “movie star” appears to be fading quickly, Cruise is one of the few performers who is able to greenlight a massive movie all by himself – as long as it’s a blockbuster. Would he still be as successful or viable a star had he continued starring in boundary-pushing dramas from exciting filmmakers? Maybe not, and that’s probably why he went the other way.
As much as I love seeing Cruise dangle off a helicopter or jump across the roofs of buildings, a part of me longs for another Magnolia-like performance in which he really goes for it. Perhaps those days are gone, and to be honest the Mission: Impossible The franchise is not a terrible trade-off. But we can chart Cruise’s current career path all the way back to that 1996 effort, which changed everything.