Brian De Palma’s 1996 film Mission: Impossible laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most iconic spy action franchises in cinema history. While it is renowned for Tom Cruise’s extreme stunts and magnetic performance, the franchise also owes a significant part of its success to key advice from none other than George Lucas.
With a single, insightful suggestion to set things up for the audience, Lucas helped shape the vision of Mission: Impossible, leaving an indelible mark on the series that continues to influence its direction to this day.
Director Revealed How Mission: Impossible Initially Lacked a Clear Plot Setup
In an appearance on the Light the Fuse podcast, Mission: Impossible director Brian De Palma revealed George Lucas‘ significant impact on the 1996 spy action film, which has since become one of the most popular franchises globally.
The filmmaker revealed that the Star Wars creator saw an early cut of the movie, which included a jealousy subplot including Jon Voight’s character, his wife, and Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt.
Describing the scene as “strange,” the filmmaker shared that it preceded the first mission but lacked a clear purpose or setup, leading to confusion about the plot’s direction. He recalled,
In the beginning, we had this very strange scene – it’s hard for me to remember now – with [Jon] Voight and somehow the jealous thing with the wife and Tom, and then we got into the first mission.
And, when Lucas saw the cut, he pointed out that the plot lacked a clear setup for the audience to understand the mission and the characters, which became a defining structure for the film and contributed to its success.
George Lucas’ Crucial Advice That Reshaped Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible
During his conversation on Light the Fuse podcast, Brian De Palma also revealed that it was George Lucas, who pointed out that the film lacked a substantial plot setup to introduce the characters and mission to the audience.
He shared that after Lucas saw the cut, he told him, “What are these people doing?… There’s no setup to this thing. You’ve gotta set this thing up!” He further recalled how Lucas elaborated to him that the film required a scene where the team would gather to receive instructions.
He recalled his advice,
You gotta have that scene where they’re all sitting around the table and everybody gets their instructions about what’s gonna happen… And tell the audience what they’re supposed to do.
Palma shared that he followed up on the advice and reshot the scene, tweaking it as per Lucas’s suggestion. Mission: Impossible eventually grew into a major franchise, with various filmmakers like John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, and Christopher McQuarrie taking the reins.
McQuarrie is once again set to direct the eighth installment of the franchise, marking his fourth Mission: Impossible film with Tom Cruise returning as IMF agent Ethan Hunt.
Mission: Impossible film series is available to watch on Paramount+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire