The blockbuster, titled Mission Impossible: Fallout, is out this week – and has picked up exceptional reviews from critics.
Twists and turns are part of the fabric of movies of this kind, and in a new interview the director spoke about how he developed shocks that will surprise even the most genre-savvy of cinemagoers.
Of a jaw-dropping moment in the movie, he told Den of Geek that it was originally going to play out very differently.
“I actually had a different scene there originally,” he recalled.
“The movie began as an exploration of Ethan’s darker side – he assumes the role of John Lark and has to convince people that he is this terrorist character.
“Throughout the movie you wonder, is he playing a role or is he giving in to his darker nature after so long? Is he enjoying this?”
He added: “So that’s where the movie started, and it was taking me down a path to a really dark scene, that Tom [Cruise] really embraced – he pitched something darker, even!
“But I found myself forcing the narrative towards it even though the movie just didn’t want to go there. I was really struggling with it – and then Tom broke his ankle. And we shut the movie down and I was able to really confront the material, realise why it wasn’t working, and address it.
“From that, emerged the middle part of the movie. The big twist arrived organically.
“This is working because I’m not trying to make it work. And even if it’s predictable, it’s fun to watch, so I didn’t worry about people seeing it coming so much as was it rewarding when it arrived?
“I was very lucky that everybody bought a bit of invention to that scene – it was just great fun, everyone’s performing at the top of their game.”
Mission Impossible 6 sees Cruise reprise the role of Ethan Hunt, with Henry Cavill on board as August Walker and Rebecca Ferguson playing Ilsa Faust.
The story sees an IMF mission ending badly with the escape of Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), putting the world in big danger.
Mission Impossible: Fallout is out on Wednesday.
