According to ScreenRant, Paramount CEO Brian Robbins recently opened up about a feud that took place between Tom Cruise and the studio regarding “Mission: Impossible – Payback of the Dead, Part One” and “Mission: Impossible – Payback of the Dead, Part Two.”
Mission Impossible: Paramount CEO Brian Robbins exposes feud with Tom Cruise over new chapters
Mission: Impossible: The Wage of Death, Part One marked the return of Ethan Hunt, played by Cruz. The seventh part of the popular action movie follows a super spy and his IMF team as they try to find a dangerous new weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. In addition to Cruz, Dead Reckoning Part One boasts the presence of Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Isai Morales, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Giannis Cheung, Michelle Monaghan and Nicholas Hoult.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film was heavily impacted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing the film’s budget to increase from its original estimate of $290 million.
While speaking with Variety, Robbins discussed the dispute between Paramount and Cruise over Dead Reckoning Part One. Tensions were already high, according to Variety, because the film’s budget had exceeded its original estimate (reaching nearly $300 million due to COVID-induced closures), but Top Gun: Maverick star and director Jack Reacher also wanted to include an expensive submarine scene. which was originally supposed to be in the second part of “Reckoning the Dead”. Robbins told Variety, “Let’s just say that the studio, the producer and Tom disagreed on the direction and there was an impasse.”
The Paramount CEO went on to say, “We had to take a break. They were stuck on how to continue the second part of Calculation of the Dead while we finished the first part.”
Robbins added: “It was a production issue and it was about the scale of what was asked for. And the question we had to ask ourselves was, do we need it and why? And then how big should it be and how long will it take?”
Dead Reckoning Part One was already filming in Italy when the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a halt. The seventh film, Mission Impossible, was canceled seven times, which, of course, did not affect the film’s budget. Despite this, Dead Reckoning Part One’s cast and crew were compensated during the hiatus, with Cruise covering approximately $700,000 in costs to rent two cruise ships for the cast and crew.
Despite numerous setbacks, Mission: Impossible: The Wage of Death Part One wrapped filming and hit theaters earlier this month on July 12. However, while Death Wage Part One has finally overcome its various hurdles, the next installment in the series, Death Wage Part Two, is likely to face its own challenges as the plan to resume filming the film may be affected by the ongoing SAG strike. -AFTRA.