Trivia

Carrie-Anne Moss was offered a role after Tom Cruise was impressed with her work in Suspect Zero, which Cruise produced. When Joe Carnahan left the project, and J.J. Abrams took the reigns, her character was dropped from the film entirely.

Kelly Brook was at one point slated to appear.

David Fincher was first slated to direct the film but dropped out to produce Lords of Dogtown, which he also dropped out of directing. The basic storyline of the version he was working on dealt with black market trade of body parts in Africa.

While the producers signed on J.J. Abrams as director in August 2004 after Joe Carnahan’s departure, the film was abruptly delayed for at least a year due to Tom Cruise’s commitment to the abruptly green-lit War of the Worlds. The production was delayed until Summer 2005, causing the film to be released in 2006. Abrams was hired after Cruise saw episodes of the Abrams series Alias on DVD and was impressed.

Kenneth Branagh was cast as the villain, but because of shooting-delays he had to drop out to begin work on As You Like It.

Studio filming took place at sound stages at the Paramount Studios lot, which for the previous 18 years had been used solely for episodes of Star Trek.

At one point, Ricky Gervais was cast in the film as an ally to Ethan Hunt. But due to various production and casting changes, Gervais had to pull out of the film and was replaced by Simon Pegg.

In early May 2004, it was reported that Tom Cruise (in his role as a producer) had requested of the German government that filming be allowed in the 40-metre glass dome of the German Parliament building, the Bundestag. He had earlier visited the Foster & Partners-designed building and been very impressed. His request was denied, however, by Parliament President Wolfgang Thierse. “The building is not available as a film location and we refuse point blank every request to use it as such,” a spokesman said.

The film’s former director Joe Carnahan was offered the position of director after Tom Cruise was impressed by his work on Narc, which Cruise also executive produced. Carnahan stepped down from the position of director because of creative differences only a month before filming was originally due to begin in August of 2004. His departure delayed the film by a year, while a new director was being sought after. In this time, Cruise went on to film War of the Worlds which had its originally intended 2006 release fast-tracked by a whole year.

Thandie Newton was offered the chance to reprise the role of Nyah Nordoff Hall, but turned it down to concentrate on spending time with her family. Her role in the story was later changed to a new character named Leah Quint (played by Carrie-Anne Moss) but when J.J. Abrams took over directing the project, the character was totally scrapped from the story.

The Lamborghini that was blown up had no engine.

Some of the scenes were shot in downtown Richmond, Virginia. The crew and cast were directed to the set of “Heyday”. This diversionary title was posted everywhere downtown so as to distract onlookers and tourists from the movie set.

Cameo: [Daniel Mindel] The film’s cinematographer appears as a doctor talking to Julia in the hospital.

During the credits, one of the organizations which the producers of the film wish to thank is the Hanso Foundation, a group tied to J.J. Abrams’ television series, Lost.

The assistant directors on both units, Mathew Dunne and Tommy Gormley had characters named after them, “Declan Gormley” and “Benjimin Dunne” respectively.

Ethan Hunt makes references to Lake Wanaka. Lake Wanaka is a lake in the South Island of New Zealand, which Tom Cruise visited while in New Zealand filming The Last Samurai. He liked the place so much that he included it in this film.

Scarlett Johansson was cast in the film early on but pulled out of the project and her role eventually went to Keri Russell.

The interior of Ethan Hunt’s house was based on ‘JJ Abrams’ ‘s family’s home.

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character’s name, Owen Davian, is an in-joke and a nod to his long-time manager, Davien Littlefield.

One of the five percussionists in the orchestra which did the film’s score was Emil Richards, who 30 years ago played bongos on the original “Mission: Impossible” theme.

Cameo: [Michael Kehoe] craft service crew member appears as Mike the hospital employee when Ethan enters the hospital he’s in search for his wife and heads for the front desk where Mike is seated.

At the party, when Ethan answers the phone and gets the call about a free trip to Mexico, the voice on the other line is that of director J.J. Abrams.

When Ethan wakes up tied to the chair and Brownway shoots the charge up his nose, the hand seen holding the gun to Tom Cruise’s nose is not Eddie Marsan’s, but Cruise’s own hand. The same goes later when Musgrave puts the phone to Ethan’s ear, then Ethan bites Musgrave’s hand. The hand that Cruise bit was not Billy Crudup’s, but again it was his own hand.

Phil Alden Robinson was one of the finalists for the director’s job.

This would be the last Cruise/Wagner film distributed by Paramount. After the release, Paramount owner Sumner Redstone decided not to renew their distribution rights. Apparently, Redstone was disgusted by Tom Cruise’s recent antics particularly his appearance on The Oprah Winfrey show. Following that, Cruise and his partner Paula Wagner had resurrected the United Artists company which was closed a few years ago.

The shot where Musgrave is killed and drops the “Rabbit’s Foot” and it rolls perfectly into frame as the camera pushes in on Billy Crudup was an unplanned effect. In previous takes it was simply thrown to the side but the accidental shot looked so incredible and made more sense it was kept, to the ecstatic response of the cast and crew.