How Mission: Impossible 7 Made A 14-Year Long Wish Come True
An incredibly difficult shoot, a once-in-a-generation pandemic, and multiple release date delays as the industry tried to get back on its feet all contributed to the feeling that "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning" (formerly known as "Part One," which has been emblazoned on all the marketing material attached to the movie, but apparently not anymore) has been in the works for an unfathomably lengthy amount of time. That's not entirely untrue, of course, as production began in earnest back in 2020 and even overlapped with filming of certain parts of the sequel. With the benefit of hindsight, although the film perhaps doesn't reach the same highs as 2018's "Fallout," it still feels like a minor miracle that the movie managed to overcome all of those obstacles, make it into theaters, and be as entertaining as it was.
For director Chris McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise, however, the ambitious blockbuster represented something even more meaningful. Aside from Cruise's defiance of death with yet another wildly dangerous stunt, "Dead Reckoning" provided the perfect opportunity for the two longtime creative collaborators to cross off a certain item off their bucket list. With both figures having worked in the industry for quite a long time now and on some of the most expensive projects conceivable, it's hard to imagine what their latest movie could've allowed them to do that they hadn't done before. Luckily, the answer is found in the bonus features included in the recent DVD/Blu-ray release.
According to commentary by McQuarrie, he and Cruise had wanted to film something together in Venice for well over a decade now. Obviously, the world-famous locale has provided the setting for several classic movies, from "Casino Royale" to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." But one pivotal sequence let them put their own spin on Venice.
'It's a very difficult location to shoot'
Anyone who's listened to Chris McQuarrie's podcast appearances throughout the years or his commentary tracks on the various "Mission: Impossible" movies know that nothing comes easy to this franchise. Production begins without finished scripts, scheduling and other practical concerns throw curveballs at the decision-makers out of nowhere, and, on top of it all, everyone has to make sure that Tom Cruise makes it out of his latest stunt without killing himself in the process. It sounds like an ordeal, to put it mildly, so filming in Venice proved to be more of the same.
In the behind-the-scenes extras on the "Dead Reckoning" Blu-ray, McQuarrie reveals that this portion of the shoot had been 14 years in the making:
"Tom and I have been talking about shooting in Venice for 14 years now. One of the reasons I'm drawn to it is it hadn't been shot in quite the way I imagined shooting it. It's a very difficult location to shoot. There are no vehicles allowed, so everything has to be brought in by boat and then carried to set by hand. We wanted Venice to have a completely different feel from the rest of the movie."
You may notice that the Venice-set scenes contain a startling lack of extras in the various alleys and canals, and that's because the crew filmed these scenes at the height of the quarantine lockdown in Italy. Factor in the logistical complications and the desire to avoid doing the same sort of boat chases through the canals that countless movies have done before, and it's clear that McQuarrie and Cruise wanted to make this portion of the movie feel special. Mission accomplished!
"Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning" is now available on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K.