For decades, audiences have been enthralled by the iconic Mission Impossible franchise’s pulse-pounding action, mind-blowing stunts, and complex plot twists. Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt has faced many obstacles, including scaling tall skyscrapers and outwitting complex security systems. However, unanticipated mistakes can cause even the most meticulous plans to fail.
The Mission: Impossible movies are enormous, and as the action spy film series goes on, they only get bigger. Given the complexity of the narratives, the movies may be prone to plot holes and flaws in intricate shots. This was the situation in the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol climax scene.
The thrilling climax of Brad Bird’s 2011 action spy movie was marred by a small factual error—it took place in an Indian multilevel parking lot.
When Tom Cruise’s Perfect Mission Went Wrong
Tom Cruise is best known for playing Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series. However, there was one ridiculous error that materially diminished the overall cinematic experience in the fourth Mission: Impossible movie, which is the sequel to Mission: Impossible III (2006).
Remember the climactic sequence in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol where all the vehicles were left-hand drives? However, this scene actually occurred in an Indian multi-level parking lot. As the final chase scene took place in a multi-level parking lot in India, we could not help but notice that these were left-hand drives, making them incompatible with India’s right-hand driving laws (per IMDB).
Christopher McQuarrie, who would go on to direct Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), rewrote the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’s script without receiving credit, explaining that (via Star Tribune):
“On Ghost Protocol I came in on the middle of the shoot to do a rewrite of the screenplay, though they had already started the movie. I had to communicate with the entire staff to determine what I could and couldn’t change, what sets had been built or struck, what scenes I could or couldn’t reshoot.”
Tom Cruise Was Supposed To Step Down After Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol?
It turned out that the Mission: Impossible franchise would have nearly taken a very different turn before becoming one of the best franchises currently flourishing in Hollywood. In 2011, the fourth installment of the popular series, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, was released. However, Tom Cruise was about to give the role to another actor and leave the show.
This statement was made by Robert Elswit, the film’s cinematographer. Cruise’s Ethan Hunt was going to take over as the new IMF Secretary, opening the door for someone else to become the face of the franchise in the future.
Elswit, 73, had the following to say about it (via Collider):
“The original version of Ghost Protocol, most of the people involved probably wouldn’t speak about this, but I can because nobody gives a s*** about what I say. The original version of this movie was at the end of it Tom Cruise stops being Ethan Hunt the agent and becomes Ethan Hunt the Secretary. The whole version of this was they were gonna put another IMF Mission unit together with another actor, maybe it’s Jeremy Renner, who knows who it is, and they’re gonna go through this series of wild events, and at the end Tom gets to be the Secretary and a new agent takes over the franchise. Which I think seemed kind of nutty, but that was kind of the marching orders.”
Critics gave Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol favorable reviews, praising the action scenes, Cruise’s performance, and Brad Bird’s directing. As the highest-grossing movie in the franchise starring the Edge of Tomorrow actor up until the release of Mission: Impossible – Fallout in 2018, it earned $694 million globally. After this, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation was released in 2015.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is streaming on Netflix and Paramount Plus.
