Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mission: Impossible III, is a 2006 American action spy film co-written and directed by J. J. Abrams (in his directorial debut), co-written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and co-produced by and starring Tom Cruise in the role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt. It is the third installment in the Mission: Impossible film series, following 2000’s Mission: Impossible 2. In the film, Ethan Hunt has retired from field work for the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and trains new recruits. However, he is sent back into action to track down the elusive arms dealer Owen Davian, who is looking for a mysterious toxic weapon called the ‘Rabbit’s foot’. Mission: Impossible III premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2006, and was released in the United States on May 5, 2006.
Plot.
Ethan Hunt has retired from fieldwork for the IMF. He instead trains recruits while settling down with his fiancée, Julia Meade, a nurse who is unaware of Ethan’s real job. He is approached by IMF Assistant Director of Operations John Musgrave about a mission to rescue one of Ethan’s protégés, Lindsey Farris. Lindsey was captured while investigating arms dealer Owen Davian. Musgrave has already prepared a team for Ethan: Declan Gormley, Zhen Lei, and his old partner Luther Stickell. The team rescues Lindsey in Berlin and collects two damaged laptop computers. As they flee, Ethan discovers an explosive pellet implanted in Lindsey’s head. Before he can disable it, it kills her. IMF Director Theodore Brassel reprimands Ethan and Musgrave. Ethan learns that Lindsey mailed him a postcard before her capture and discovers a magnetic microdot under the stamp. IMF technician Benji Dunn recovers enough data from the laptops to determine Davian will be in Vatican City to obtain a mysterious object codenamed the “Rabbit’s Foot.”
Ethan plans a mission to capture Davian without seeking official approval. Before leaving, he and Julia have an impromptu wedding at the hospital’s chapel. The team infiltrates Vatican City and captures Davian.
Ethan threatens to drop Davian from the plane on the return flight as he interrogates him about the Rabbit’s Foot, but Davian refuses to reveal anything. After landing, Ethan learns that the microdot from Lindsey contains a warning that Brassel is seemingly working with Davian. The convoy taking Davian across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel is ambushed by German speaking mercenaries, who extract Davian while deploying a MQ-9 Reaper missile armed drone. Realizing Julia is also in danger, Ethan races to Julia’s workplace to discover she has already been kidnapped. Davian calls Ethan and gives him 48 hours to recover the Rabbit’s Foot in exchange for Julia’s life. Before Ethan can, he is captured by the IMF.
Musgrave takes part in Ethan’s interrogation. He discreetly mouths that the Rabbit’s Foot is located in Shanghai and assists Ethan in escaping. Ethan is declared an enemy of the state and placed on Interpol’s most-wanted list. Ethan secretly travels to Shanghai, where Declan, Zhen, and Luther, sent by Musgrave under the guise of another operation, assist him in acquiring the Rabbit’s Foot. As he delivers the Rabbit’s Foot to the meeting point, Ethan is tranquilized. When he regains consciousness, a micro-explosive is implanted in his head. Restrained, Ethan sees Davian holding Julia at gunpoint, tied up and gagged in a chair. Despite Ethan asserting that he brought the real Rabbit’s Foot, Davian shoots Julia and leaves the room.
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Development.
In 2002, director David Fincher was slated to direct the next installment of the Mission: Impossible film series for a summer of 2004 release date. Fincher, however, dropped out in favor of another film, later citing creative differences over the direction of the series. Replacing Fincher was director Joe Carnahan, who worked on developing the film for 15 months. Under his involvement, the film was to feature “Kenneth Branagh playing a guy who’s based on Timothy McVeigh,” as well as Carrie-Anne Moss and Scarlett Johansson in other roles. Thandie Newton was offered to reprise her role as Nyah Nordoff-Hall from Mission: Impossible 2 but she declined, in order to concentrate on her family. Her role in the story was later changed to a new character named Leah Quint, who would have been played by Moss. However, once J.J. Abrams took over directing the project, the character was scrapped.
After a dispute over the film’s tone, Carnahan quit in July 2004. Tom Cruise then called J. J. Abrams, offering the directorial role for the film after having binge-watched the first two seasons of Alias. Abrams ultimately signed on and production was delayed a year due to his contractual obligations with Alias and Lost. During this time, Branagh, Moss, and Johansson departed from the project because of the many delays in production. On June 8, 2005, Paramount Pictures gave the film the green-light after a new cast of actors was hired and the film’s budget was redeveloped, and Cruise took a major pay cut.
Filming, Marketing.
Principal photography began in Rome, Italy on July 12, 2005 and ended in October. Location filming took place in China (Shanghai and Xitang), Germany (Berlin), Italy (Rome and Caserta), the United States (California, Virginia and Maryland), and Vatican City. The night scenes involving the skyscrapers were filmed in Shanghai, while some of the Shanghai filming was also done in Los Angeles. 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. In many cases, they 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. They even temporarily shut down a veterans hospital in response to the apparent “threat.” Despite these problems, Paramount and the Los Angeles Times opted to leave the audio players in the boxes until two days after the movie’s opening.
Box office.
Opening in 4,054 theaters all across the United States, the fourth largest opening ever up to that point, the film topped the box office in its opening weekend. It made $16.6 million on its opening day and $47.7 million in its opening weekend, a solid opening yet almost $10 million lower than the franchise’s previous films. The film remained at number one with $25 million during its second weekend, ahead of Poseidon’s gross of $22.2 million. The film remained in the Top 10 at the box office for the remainder of its first six weeks. It ended its initial domestic run on July 20, 2006, taking in a total of $134 million. It was the second movie in 2006 to pass the $100,000,000 mark in the box office, following Ice Age: The Meltdown. The film’s domestic gross was significantly lower than that of Mission: Impossible 2, and remains the lowest of the series as of 2022.RELATED:
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The film grossed $70 million outside the US during its first five days (in some Asian countries, it opened two days before its North American release date). It was easily the box-office champion in many countries. Its international box office gross reached $264.4 million for a combined worldwide gross of $398.5 million, the lowest of the series as of 2022.
Cast:
- Tom CruiseasEthan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force
- Ving RhamesasLuther Stickell, a computer hacker
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Owen Davian
- Michelle Monaghan as Julia Meade
- Maggie Q as Zhen Lei, an IMF Agent
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Declan Gormley
- Billy Crudup as John Musgrave
- Keri Russell as Lindsey Farris
- Simon Pegg as Benjamin
- Laurence Fishburne as Theodore Brassel
- Bahar Soomekhas Davian’s translator
- Jeff Chaseas Davian’s bodyguard
- Michael Berry Jr.as Julia’s kidnapper
- Eddie Marsanas Brownway
- Bellamy Youngas Rachael
- Carla Galloas Beth
- Greg Grunbergas Kevin
- Rose Rollinsas Ellie
- Sasha Alexanderas Melissa Meade
- Aaron Paulas Rick Meade