‘M:I 7’ Director Was Determined to ‘Wreck’ a 70-Ton Train Like Buster Keaton

The cast and crew of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” wanted to take on more impossible stunts.

Director Christopher McQuarrie, who previously helmed 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation: and 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” recalled discussing the dream stunts with lead star Tom Cruise during a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.

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“At the start of this movie, I said to Tom, ‘What do you want to do?'” McQuarrie shared. “He said, ‘I want to drive a motorcycle off of a cliff. What do you want to do?’ And I said, ‘I want to wreck a train.’ We’re enormous fans of Buster Keaton, John Frankenheimer, David Lean, all of these filmmakers who at one time or another had a fabulous train wreck. I thought, ‘I’ve earned that, I want to wreck one too.'”

The production used a 70-ton train in the United Kingdom, with the train crashed into the Darlton Quarry for the film.

“I think the energy that went into developing it, designing that, building it, and then making a sequence that justified its existence was probably the biggest challenge of my entire life,” McQuarrie said.

The first 20 minutes of the Paramount Pictures film debuted during 2023 CinemaCon, with Paramount Global chief Bob Bakish calling the action movie an “insane” achievement. “It’s like a complete thrill ride. And Tom, he’s very good,” Bakish said.

“The ‘MI’ series really does represent the pinnacle of filmmaking excellence,” Paramount president Brian Robbins similarly said earlier this year. “And we have no doubt that this new picture will set the bar even higher.”

Robbins continued, “After five release dates and a whole bunch of rumors where this movie would end up, we are finally ready to bring this phenomenal movie to where it always belonged, and that is your theaters.”

Cruise allegedly pushed Paramount via legal action to guarantee a longer theatrical window prior to the film being available to stream on Paramount+. “M:I 7” production was repeatedly halted by the pandemic with the budget reportedly increasing to upwards of $290 million. The film is set to open in theaters July 12, with “Dead Reckoning Part Two” out in 2024.

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