Mission: Impossible director on why Dead Reckoning is split into two parts
Christopher𒐪 McQuarrie tells GamesRadar+ and Total Film abo𓂃ut the franchise-first decision to go for a two-parter

Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie has explain💛ed why Dead Reckoning is split into two parts – and it goes back to the series’ fifth instalment in 2015.
"That takes us all the way back to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Rogue Nation where we discovered an emotional component to the s💫tory that we really weren’t expecting. Stuff that we thought was going to be pure exposition actually turne෴d out to be the emotional core of the story," McQuarrie tells GamesRadar+ and in London.
"When we went to make Fallout, I wanted to build upon t꧙hat. That led to a longer movie, because you couldn’t scrimp on the action at the expense of emotion."
From th🅰ere, the Mission: Impossible films grew larger and larger – with Ethan Hunt’s personal tale being weaved into bigger and better action set-pieces. For that to happen, concessions had to be made.
"So, we were fighting to 💯get that movie down to two hours and 20 minutes," McQuarrie recalls. "I knew I wanted to expand fur𝓡ther in terms of the cast and in terms of the emotion of the story. I knew automatically that meant we were going to have a longer movie."
Which brings us to Dead Reckoning. While McQuarrie admits he was expecting a neater divide ("I was hoping🐎 to make a four-hour epic and just cut it in half and eve💙rybody could have a two-hour movie, but here we are," he tells us), the decision to cut the movie into two parts for the first time ever in the franchise gave the narrative space to operate – without having to compromise.
As McQuarrie explains: "Instead of fighting the running tim🌸e, I said let’s just cut the movie in half and give ourselves the breathing room to tell that story – not anticipating, then, that Part One would expand to the 🤪size that it did, the epic scale that it did."
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Mission: Impos🐓sible – Dead Reckoning Part One is out in cinemas on July 10 in the UK and July 12 in the US. For more on what’s coming out this year, check out our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:movie release dates calendar and guide to 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming movies. For more on our Dead🧸 Reckoning coverage, be sure to read our latest interviews:
- How Mission: Impossible's Hayley Atwell brought her "scrappy" Dead Reckoning newcomer to life
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’s Hayley Atwell spent 100 days on set before recording dialogue
- Chris McQuarrie opens up on Dead Reckoning: "I’m more frightened now than I was on my first Mission: Impossible"
I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 🥀100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution♐.