Despite working on Mission: Impossible III for over a year, director Joe Carnahan explains why he had to leave the film. The Tom Cruise-spearheaded Mission: Impossible franchise is officially done, with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning wrapping up Ethan Hunt’s narrative. While Christopher McQuarrie took over the film series, directing the fifth installment all the up to its last outing, there was a time that different filmmakers used to work on it on every film.
Before Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, there were a total of four different filmmakers that had handled the franchise: Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, and Brad Bird. Originally, however, Carnahan was supposed to direct Mission: Impossible III. By then, David Fincher had already departed the project. Despite the time and effort he had put into working on it, 2010’s The A- Team filmmaker decided to also walk away from the movie.
Speaking on the Raiders of the Lost Podcast (via The Playlist), Carnahan looks back on the experience, specifically what led to his decision to walk away from Mission: Impossible III. While he chalks it to the idea that as its lead star, Cruise was the primary creative force behind the film, he has no ill-feelings towards the actor. Read his full quote below:
“You’re dealing with, and I’ve done this a couple times, you’re dealing with a big movie star. It’s their face on the poster. It’s their name on the poster. At the end of the day, that’s how things are going to get done.”
“I just know myself well enough to go, you know, you know what, this is probably where I should tip my hat, pick up my valise and be off,” he said.
“I look back in retrospect, I say, you know, I was young, I was 33 years old. I’m like, I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing… I thought we were doing X and we were doing Y.”
“I think I’m glad it went that way because I wouldn’t have made ‘Smokin’ Aces,’”
“I owe to this day, Cruise gave ‘Narc’ a shot that it never would have gotten,” he said. “Yeah, it’s a Cruise Wagner production. Tom did that movie… He got Paramount to back a little $3 million indie crime film… And so I’ll forever be grateful for that.”
As previously mentioned, Mission: Impossible III eventually landed on Abrams’ lap, co-writing the story with Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman. Because of the divisive nature of Mission: Impossible II, there was so much pressure for the threequel to do well, as it would determine the future of the franchise. Despite the challenges, Mission: Impossible III ended up being one of the best installments in the universe.
Beyond that, Mission: Impossible III was also a box office success for Cruise and Paramount. It earned $398.5 million against a budget of $150 million. It’s safe to say that the threequel effectively revived the confidence in the franchise, paving it to release additional films throughout the next couple of decades. As for Carnahan, the filmmaker went onto work on different projects, including The A-Team and NBC’s hit James Spader show, The Blacklist.
Now, Carnahan is busy working on post-production for his latest big screen endeavor — The Rip. The star-studded action thriller features Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, and Kyle Chandler among others. Leaving Mission: Impossible III is a decision that Carnahan is sure needed to happen, and overall, things worked for the better for everyone involved. That said, it would be a lie to say that it isn’t intriguing to know how the film would have turned out if he had stayed on it.
