As reported by ScreenRant, Paramount CEO Brian Robbins recently revealed the feud that happened between Tom Cruise and the studio regarding Mission: Impossible –Dead Reckoning Part One and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.
Mission: Impossible –Dead Reckoning Part One saw the return of Cruise's Ethan Hunt. The seventh installment of the popular action franchise follow the superspy and the IMF team as they try to locate a dangerous new weapon before it ends up in the wrong hands. In addition to Cruise, Dead Reckoning Part One also stars Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Yannis Cheung, Michelle Monaghan, and Nicholas Hoult.
The Christopher McQuarrie directed film was seriously impacted by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result, the movie's budget increased from its originally estimated $290 million.
While chatting with Variety, Robbins discussed the disagreement that occurred between Paramount and Cruise over Dead Reckoning Part One. According to the Variety, tension were already high because the film ended up not only having a higher than originally estimated budget (reaching almost $300 million as a result of COVID shutdowns), but the Top Gun: Maverick star and the Jack Reacher director also wanted to include a costly submarine sequence that was originally supposed to be in Dead Reckoning Part Two.
Brian Robbins Stated That "The Studio and the Production and Tom Were in a Disagreement Over Direction"
Robbins told Variety, "Let's just say that the studio and the production and Tom were in a disagreement over direction, and there was a stalemate going on."
The Paramount CEO went on to say, "We had to hit the pause button. They were stuck on how they were going to move forward with Dead Reckoning Part Two while finishing Part One."
Robbins added, "It was a production issue, and it was about the scope of what was being asked for. And the question we needed to ask was do we need this and why? And then how big is it going to be, and how long is that going to take?"
Dead Reckoning Part One was already in production in Italy when the COVID-19 pandemic brought things to a halt. The seventh Mission: Impossible film was ultimately shut down seven times, which unsurprisingly, wasn't kind to the film's budget. Still, the cast and crew of Dead Reckoning Part One received compensation throughout and Cruise even covered an approximate $700,000 bill to rent two cruise ships for the cast and crew to stay on.
Despite its many roadblocks, Mission: Impossible –Dead Reckoning Part One eventually wrapped up filming and was released in theaters earlier this month on July 12th. Still, while Dead Reckoning Part One ultimately overcame its various struggles, the next movie in the franchise, Dead Reckoning Part Two will also likely deal with its own complications as the film's plan to resume production is expected to be impacted by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.