Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: film, mission impossible, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, Paramount Pictures, tom cruise

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Director On One Character's Fate

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie is revealing detail about a certain character death.

Mission: Impossible is a reliable franchise considering the fact that we're now seven installments into its existence where the newest chapter (starring Tom Cruise) has also managed to generate more than $500 million worldwide. Though, with any massive blockbuster franchise, you have to expect that a few major character deaths are imminent to keep audiences on edge – which this is exactly what Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One provided its fans with.

Thankfully director Christopher McQuarrie is now explaining the reasoning behind Ilsa's death and what it means for the second chapter.

Why One Character's Death Was Crucial to the Mission Impossible Franchise

While discussing the fate of the character (first reported via Empire), the film's director explains, "It's a very heroic death for that character. It is not in any way, shape, or form disposable. It's a noble and heroic death. That, to me, is the hardest thing to find for a character. [Ilsa dying for Grace was] hugely important and again arose organically from the story. Her death was one of the first things we shot. But the reasons came later – and we were not satisfied the first time I cut the scene together without those reasons in place. As a scene all by itself in a vacuum, [it] didn't work."

McQuarrie then further elaborates on the choice, adding, "It was all before we had shot the Pom and Ethan fight. The stakes of that sequence, and the gravity of that death, we were not going to stop until it had meaning and until it had dignity. It's not about revenge – it becomes a test of character. It's not whether or not a character dies. It's not what group that character represents when that character dies. It's not what emotion that character instills in the protagonist when that character dies. It's the value of that character's death. It's not any more complicated than that: did they die for a reason?"

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was already released in theaters worldwide, with an official digital release date still pending.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!