What Could Have Been: The third entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise was originally announced with David Fincher at the helm in 2002 but he quickly dropped out and was replaced by Joe Carnahan, fresh from his excellent crime thriller Narc. Carnahan spent over a year working on the project, with Kenneth Branagh cast as the villain (rumored to be a domestic terrorist) and Scarlett Johansson and Carrie-Anne Moss in supporting roles. Mere months before shooting was due to commence and with tens of millions of dollars already spent, Carnahan abruptly departed the project after being unable to agree on a suitable tone for the movie with studio Paramount and star Tom Cruise. What We Got Instead: Cruise personally handpicked JJ Abrams to make his feature debut as Carnahan's replacement after becoming a fan of his television work. The budget was re-jigged, the cast replaced and the movie was ultimately released in May 2006 and went on to gross nearly $400m worldwide. The end result was a perfectly acceptable action movie, with a series of spectacular action scenes and a great villainous turn from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in a rare blockbuster appearance. The Verdict: Joe Carnahan is a famously outspoken director so it comes as no surprise that there were disagreements behind the scenes, especially when you consider the power that Tom Cruise holds over the franchise. Carnahan got his shot at blockbuster filmmaking with The A-Team and the results were decidedly mixed, but he is definitely a talented director with the right material. His take on Mission: Impossible III would certainly have been a lot grittier and more intense than the version Abrams made, that's for sure.
I don't do social media, so like or follow me in person but please maintain a safe distance or the authorities will be notified. Don't snap me though, I'll probably break. I was once labelled a misogynist on this very site in a twenty paragraph-long rant for daring to speak ill of the Twilight franchise. I stand by what I said, it's crap.
