Mission: Impossible III
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- See also: Mission: Impossible III soundtrack.
| Mission: Impossible III | |
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 Mission: Impossible III poster |
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| Directed by | J. J. Abrams |
| Produced by | Tom Cruise Paula Wagner |
| Written by | Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci & J. J. Abrams |
| Starring | Tom Cruise Philip Seymour Hoffman Ving Rhames Michelle Monaghan Billy Crudup Laurence Fishburne Jonathan Rhys Meyers Maggie Q Simon Pegg Keri Russell Eddie Marsan |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Cinematography | Dan Mindel |
| Editing by | Maryann Brandon Mary Jo Markey |
| Distributed by | USA Theatrical and Worldwide DVD/Video Paramount Pictures Non-USA Theatrical United International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 5, 2006 |
| Running time | 126 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150 million USD |
| Preceded by | Mission: Impossible II |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Mission: Impossible III (abbreviated M:i:III) is the third film based on the television series Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt.
The film was directed by J. J. Abrams. It was first released on April 26, 2006 at the Tribeca Film Festival, and widely released in the United States on May 5, 2006. Filming began in Rome, Italy in July 2005. The film had been kept under extremely tight wraps, and very little was known of its plots or new featured characters during filming. Location filming took place in China (Shanghai, Xitang, and Zhouzhuang), Germany (Berlin), Italy (Rome and Caserta), the United States (California and Virginia), and Vatican City.
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[edit] Synopsis
The film begins in medias res with Ethan Hunt and a woman held captive and threatened by an unnamed man. He demands from Ethan the location of something called the Rabbit's Foot, then, after counting to ten, appears to shoot the woman. The narrative then rolls back five days.
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has retired from being an IMF team leader, instead opting for a quiet life with his fiancée Julia (Michelle Monaghan), a hospital nurse (who was the captive in the opening sequence). During their engagement party, Ethan is contacted by IMF Operations Director Musgrave (Billy Crudup) who provides him with a disposable camera. After viewing a video hidden in the camera, he finds out Musgrave wants him to rescue Agent Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell), Ethan's protégé, who has been captured in Berlin by Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a prominent dealer in the international black market (the captor from the opening). He reluctantly agrees to participate in the mission and meets the team which has been selected for him, consisting of Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), Zhen (Maggie Q), and his old partner, Luther Stickel (Ving Rhames).
The team assaults an enemy stronghold and appear to extract Agent Farris successfully, but she dies during their escape when an explosive capsule placed inside her head detonates. After Lindsey's funeral, Ethan is notified of a "package" sent to him by Lindsey, and discovers that it is a microdot hidden in a blank postcard. Ethan discusses its possible importance with Luther and both decide to keep its existence a secret.
Using information recovered from a laptop in the Berlin mission, Ethan then decides to go after Davian himself, targeting him at a meeting in Vatican City, where a lucrative transaction involving a mysterious object, codenamed "The Rabbit's Foot", is apparently taking place. Neither of Ethan's superiors, directors Brassell (Laurence Fishburne) or Musgrave, have authorized the mission. Before leaving, Ethan reassures Julia of their relationship, and promptly marries her at the hospital in a small ceremony. The team then arrives in Rome and sets off their elaborate plan to abduct Davian, barely avoiding disaster in the process. The operation succeeds nonetheless. Ethan interrogates Davian on the flight home. However he is angered by Davian's quiet but confident threats of killing his wife, and attempts to throw him off the plane before being talked out of it by Stickel.
While transporting Davian across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in a convoy, Luther hands Ethan a laptop computer and plays the video message from the decoded microdot: Lindsey had discovered that Director Brassel is a mole, who has been leaking information to Davian about IMF operations. Suddenly, Ethan and his team are attacked by foreign mercenaries who, after attacking Ethan and his team using a UAV drone, manage to extract Davian. Remembering Davian's threats to kill his wife, Ethan immediately rushes to the hospital where Julia works. He arrives barely moments too late and finds that Julia has already been abducted. At that moment of despair, Ethan receives a call from Davian with a proposition; he must retrieve the "Rabbit's Foot" from a facility in Shanghai within 48 hours, or his wife will be killed. Ethan, anxious to begin his mission to rescue his wife is abruptly taken into custody by the IMF (accused of masterminding the ambush). However, he manages to escape with help from Musgrave, who intercepted Ethan's call from Davian, and instructs Ethan to go to Shanghai.
In Shanghai, Ethan reunites with his team once more and manages to infiltrate the heavily guarded building containing the Rabbit's Foot and steals it. Ethan then goes to the established meeting place where Davian is waiting. Told to "ask no questions", he is made to drink a substance which knocks him out and wakes to learn an explosive capsule is implanted in his brain. The scene shown in the prologue then ensues: Julia and Ethan are bound to chairs and Davian threatens to kill Julia if he is not told the location of the Rabbit's Foot. Ethan, in panic, insists that he has delivered it. However, after counting to ten, Davian proceeds to execute Julia.
After Davian leaves, Musgrave enters, revealing himself as the traitor and explains the situation to a stunned Ethan; Davian will sell the Rabbit's Foot to known Middle Eastern enemies of the United States, the resulting attack being anticipated and controlled to generate only 'acceptable losses'. This will then justify a massive retaliation that would result in an internationally supported hostile takeover of the region. He shows that the dead "Julia" was actually one of Davian's incompetent personnel wearing a mask, used to make sure that Ethan had brought the real Rabbit's Foot; Julia is still alive. Ethan escapes by biting Musgrave's arm before attacking him and taking his phone, which is used to track down Julia's location. Instrumental in this is the assistance of Benji (Simon Pegg), an IMF laboratory technician.
Ethan finally finds Julia, but before he can free her Davian activates the bomb in Ethan's head. The result is a splitting noise in Ethan's head which renders him incapable of thinking properly and defending himself. Davian then begins to savagely beat Ethan, but just as Davian prepares to kill him, Ethan manages to make an impressive comeback and hurls Davian out of the window. Davian is killed when a truck runs over him and Ethan during the scuffle--Ethan, on the bottom, is clear of the truck. Ethan loosens power cables to be able to put electricity on his body, to deactivate the bomb in his head, and meanwhile quickly teaches Julia how to shoot. Julia turns on the power which seemingly kills Ethan, after which Musgrave attacks her. After killing Musgrave, she successfully resuscitates Ethan with CPR, and the two walk out with the Rabbit's Foot as Ethan proceeds to tell Julia the truth about his secret life.
Back at headquarters, Ethan is congratulated for his heroic actions, and then leaves for his honeymoon with Julia, with the blessing of his applauding teammates and promises for another mission which the White House is keen to contact him about.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Cruise | Ethan Hunt | Main protagonist |
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | Owen Davian | Main antagonist |
| Ving Rhames | Luther Stickell | Member of Ethan's team |
| Billy Crudup | John Musgrave | |
| Michelle Monaghan | Julia "Jules" Mead | Ethan's fiancée/wife |
| Jonathan Rhys-Meyers | Declan Gormley | Member of Ethan's team |
| Keri Russell | Lindsey Farris | IMF agent Ethan trained |
| Maggie Q | Zhen Lei | Member of Ethan's team |
| Simon Pegg | Benji Dunn | IMF Technician |
| Eddie Marsan | Brownway | |
| Laurence Fishburne | Theodore Brassel | Head of the IMF |
[edit] Production notes
- Tom Cruise approached J.J. Abrams to be the director of the film after binge-watching the first season of Alias on DVD.
- Actress Thandie Newton was originally approached to reprise her role as Nyah Hall, but the actress declined the role so that she could spend more time with her family.
- Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) was slated to direct M-I: III but dropped out in favor of another film.[1] Fincher was then replaced by Narc director Joe Carnahan, but he quit in a dispute over the film's tone.
- Dean Greogaris and Frank Darabont both worked on the screenplay during the early stages of the film.
- Production of the movie was halted in late 2004 so that Cruise could work on War of the Worlds.
- Originally set for release in 2005, the delay in shooting caused early cast members Carrie-Anne Moss and Kenneth Branagh to pull out. Ricky Gervais - who had acted in an episode of J. J. Abrams' television series Alias - was cast in a supporting role, but pulled out when the part expanded. British actor and screenwriter Simon Pegg was then cast to play Ethan Hunt's sidekick.
- Cruise allegedly made a mock trailer for his friends of the stunts he wanted to perform in the movie.
- The Martial Arts forms used in the film by Tom Cruise include a combination of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Kali and Keysi Fighting Method.
- Cruise also asked for permission to film in the Reichstag building in Berlin but was denied access.
- The first of 10 television spots for Mission: Impossible III were shown during the Super Bowl, twice during WWE RAW, and once after the showing of The Shield on FX.
- At the specific request of Tom Cruise, Kanye West reworked the Mission: Impossible theme in the same way that Limp Bizkit did for Mission: Impossible II; Kanye's version appears towards the end of the film's credits. In addition, West produced and rapped on a track called "Impossible" (featuring Twista, Keyshia Cole and BJ Thomas) that was to originally appear on the film soundtrack.
- To promote the film, Paramount rigged 4,500 randomly selected Los Angeles Times vending boxes with digital audio players which would play the theme song when the door was opened. The audio players did not always stay concealed, however, and in many cases came loose and fell on top of the stack of newspapers in plain view, with the result that they were widely mistaken for bombs. Police bomb squads detonated a number of the vending boxes and even temporarily shut down a veterans' hospital in response to the apparent "threat". Despite these problems, Paramount and The LA Times opted to leave the audio players in the boxes until two days after the movie's opening.[2]
- At 43 minutes and 50 seconds into the film, agent Hunt can be seen using the OQO personal computer as his device, which according to Guinness World Records is the smallest fully functional PC. It is not known whether this was deliberate product placement.
- Besides Ethan Hunt, Luther Stickel (Ving Rhames) is the only character to appear in all three films.
[edit] "Trapped in the Closet" controversy
A blog entry of Hollywoodinterrupted.com in March alleged that Comedy Central parent Viacom canceled the rebroadcast of the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet" due to threats of Cruise to abstain from the Mission: Impossible III publicity circle.[3][4] These assertions were soon also reported by E! News and American Morning.[4][5] Fox News attributed threats from Tom Cruise, stating, "to back out of his Mission: Impossible III promotional duties if Viacom didn’t pull a repeat of the episode," as evidence of "bad blood" between Cruise and Viacom.[6] The Washington Post reported that South Park fans "struck back", in March 2006, and threatened to boycott Mission: Impossible III until Comedy Central put "Trapped in the Closet" back on its schedule.[7] Melissa McNamara of CBS News later questioned whether this boycott hurt the Mission: Impossible III box office debut.[8]
When asked in ABC's Primetime about his involvement with stopping the episode rebroadcast on Comedy Central, Cruise stated "First of all, could you ever imagine sitting down with anyone? I would never sit down with someone and question them on their beliefs. Here's the thing: I'm really not even going to dignify this. I honestly didn't really even know about it. I'm working, making my movie, I've got my family. I'm busy. I don't spend my days going, 'What are people saying about me?'"[9] A representative of Cruise had also denied any involvement of Cruise with the issue, specifically responding to allegations of Cruise's reputed corporate power play.[10]
[edit] Reaction
Mission: Impossible III scored mostly positive reviews among critics, and is presently the highest rated Mission Impossible film at the Internet Movie Database, where it is rated 6.9/10.[11] Currently, it sits at a 70% approval rating at rottentomatoes.com, the best rating of the trilogy, although its "Cream of the Crop" rating is 62%, in between the other two.[12] On the television show Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper gave the film a "thumbs up", while Roger Ebert gave it a marginal "thumbs down".[13]
Opening in 4,054 theaters all across the United States (the 4th largest opening ever), the film easily topped the box-office in its opening weekend. It made $16.6 million on its opening day. It made $47.7 million in its opening weekend, a solid opening yet well below industry expectations and almost $10 million lower than the franchise's previous installment. On its second weekend, the sequel remained number 1 with $25 million (ahead of Poseidon's $22.2 million). The movie remained in the Top 10 at the box office for the first 6 weeks of its release. Mission: Impossible III ended its domestic run with $134 million. It was the second movie in 2006 to pass the $100,000,000 mark in the box office. (The first was Ice Age: The Meltdown).
Outside of the USA, the sequel grossed $70 million for the first five days (in some Asian countries, Mission: Impossible III opened two days ahead of its North American release date) and was easily the box-office champion in many countries. As of February 11, 2007, M:I-III's international box office gross has reached $263.8 million, for a combined worldwide gross of $397.9 million.
In the Netherlands, the film debuted in the week of May 4-10 at #1, grossing a total of € 532,384 in that week. The following week, the film remained on the top position. In its third week, the film dropped to #2 and the following week, fell to #4. Next it maintained the #4 position to drop to #6 (in the week of June 6 - June 14). In total, the film has grossed over € 2,141,162.[14]
[edit] DVD, HD DVD and BD
Paramount Home Entertainment released the film on DVD, HD DVD and BD formats on October 30, 2006.[15]
[edit] Filming
The night scenes involving the skyscrapers were filmed in Shanghai. The rest of the Shanghai filming was done in Los Angeles.[16]
[edit] Sequel
Mission: Impossible IV is currently in pre-production. Rumors have arisen that Brad Pitt may become the star of the sequel,[17] although it is currently unknown if Cruise will or will not be chosen by Paramount. It is possible, although Sumner Redstone has stated that it would be up to Brad Grey, who runs Paramount, to decide.[18]
A presumed release date for the film is 2010.[19]
[edit] Video games
A mobile phone game based on the movie was released by Gameloft.
[edit] References
- ^ "Scarlett Aborts "Mission"", E!, May 9, 2005.
- ^ "Mission Illogical: Movie Promotion Puts Lives 'at Risk'", May 5, 2006.
- ^ Ebner, Mark. "Scientologist Tom Cruise Blackmails Viacom into Pulling the "Trapped in the Closet" Episode of South Park", Hollywood, Interrupted site., Rudius Media, March 16, 2006.
- ^ a b Ryan, Joel. ""The Closet," the Controversy--and Cruise", E! Online, E! Entertainment Television, Inc., 2006-03-13. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
- ^ O'Brien, Soledad; John Roberts. "Storms Blanket Midwest; Insurgents Launch Full-Scale Attack on Iraqi Police", American Morning, CNN, March 21, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
- ^ Friedman, Roger. "Cruise Ambushed by 'Broke' Studio?", FOX News, August 23, 2006.
- ^ de Moraes, Lisa. "'South Park' Responds: Chef's Goose Is Cooked", The Washington Post, March 23, 2006, pp. Page C07.
- ^ McNamara, Melissa. "Did Bloggers Doom 'M:i:III'?", CBS News, CBS Interactive Inc., May 10, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
Even political blogger Andrew Sullivan encouraged a boycott of the movie, based on claims that Cruise allegedly forced Comedy Central to censor a South Park episode about scientologists. "Make sure you don't go see Paramount's Mission: Impossible III, Cruise's upcoming movie," Sullivan blogged. "I know you weren't going to see it anyway. But now any money you spend on this movie is a blow against freedom of speech. Boycott it. Tell your friends to boycott it." - ^ "Cruise: 'No Oprah Regrets'", hollywood.com, 2006-04-16. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
- ^ "Cruise axe for South Park", thesun.co.uk, 2006-03-17. Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
- ^ Mission: Impossible III (2006). The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
- ^ Mission: Impossible III. rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
- ^ Ebert & Roeper, Reviews for the Weekend of May 6 - 7, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
- ^ Business Data for Mission: Impossible III. imdb. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
- ^ Schneider, Karl (2006-08-11). MI3 to hit DVD October 30. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
- ^ Seen in the behind-the-scenes section, included in the Mission Impossible III Limited DVD.
- ^ Brad Pitt Could Replace Tom Cruise In 'Mission Impossible' Sequel (2006-09-19).
- ^ Mogul Redstone: Cruise can star in next 'Mission Impossible'. Yahoo! Movies (2008-05-06). Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
- ^ Mission: Impossible IV at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
[edit] External links
- Official Mission: Impossible III Film Web Site
- Mission: Impossible III at the Internet Movie Database
- Apple.com Movie Trailers: Trailer and Super Bowl TV Spot
- Mission: Impossible III at Tom Cruise Online.com
- Mission Impossible 3 at Rotten Tomatoes
- SoundtrackNet's Mission: Impossible 3 Scoring Session Exclusive
- Mission Impossible III, About The Locations And Production Design
- Film Review The Oregon Herald
- Film Review Xdafied.com.au
- Film Review at Hollywood Gothique
- Mission: Impossible III at Yahoo! Movies
| Preceded by RV |
Box office number-one films of 2006 (USA) May 7, 2006 – May 14, 2006 |
Succeeded by The Da Vinci Code |
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