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Mission: Impossible III

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Mission: Impossible III
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJ. J. Abrams
Written by
Based onMission: Impossible
by Bruce Geller
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDan Mindel
Edited by
Music byMichael Giacchino
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • May 5, 2006 (2006-05-05)
Running time
126 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$150 million[2]
Box office$398.5 million[3]

Mission: Impossible III (stylized as M:i: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 (Cruise) 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 (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Mission: Impossible III premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2006, and was released in the United States on May 5, 2006. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who considered it an improvement over its predecessors, and was a commercial success, grossing over $397 million against a $150 million budget.[4] It was followed by Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011.

Plot

Six years after the events of the previous film, Ethan Hunt has retired from field work for the IMF. He instead trains new recruits while settling down with his fiancée, Julia Meade, a nurse who is unaware of Ethan's true 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 goes off and kills her. Back in the U.S., Ethan and Musgrave are reprimanded by IMF Director Theodore Brassel. 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 successfully infiltrates Vatican City and captures Davian.

On the flight back to the U.S., Ethan threatens to drop Davian from the plane as he interrogates him about the Rabbit's Foot, but Davian refuses to reveal anything. After landing, Ethan learns that the microdot contains a video of Lindsey warning that Brassel is seemingly working with Davian. The convoy taking Davian across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel is ambushed by former Kommando Spezialkräfte operators turned mercenaries deploying a UAV drone who have been hired to locate and extract Davian from IMF custody, and Davian escapes. Realizing Julia is also in danger, Ethan races to Julia's workplace, only 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. But before Ethan can do anything, he is captured by the IMF.

Musgrave takes part in Ethan's interrogation but discreetly mouths that the Rabbit's Foot is located in Shanghai, and provides Ethan with the means to escape. Ethan successfully escapes IMF headquarters shortly thereafter, resulting in him being declared an enemy of the state and placed on Interpol's most wanted list.

Ethan then 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 comes to, a micro-explosive is implanted in his head. The restrained Ethan sees Davian holding Julia at gunpoint, gagged to a chair. Despite Ethan asserting that he brought the real Rabbit's Foot, Davian shoots Julia and leaves. Musgrave arrives, and reveals himself as the IMF traitor; he explains that Julia is still alive, and the woman killed was not Julia, but Davian's head of security disguised as Julia, executed for failing to protect him in Vatican City. The ruse was to confirm the authenticity of the Rabbit's Foot. He arranged for Davian to acquire the Rabbit's Foot and sell it to a terrorist group so that IMF would have reason to launch a preemptive strike, in order to increase the American military presence in the region.

When Musgrave lets his guard down, Ethan manages to knock him unconscious. He frees himself and uses Musgrave's phone to track the last call's location to find Julia. With help from Benji on the phone, he locates the place, but encounters Davian and some of his henchmen. Ethan kills the henchmen, but Davian arms the explosive in Ethan's head. Ethan fights him and manages to get Davian killed. He comes back to free Julia, and then jury-rigs an impromptu defibrillator to deactivate the explosive. Julia fights off and kills a henchman, then Musgrave, who is carrying the Rabbit's Foot. She successfully resuscitates Ethan, who explains his true IMF career to her.

Back in the US, Brassel and others congratulate Ethan as he leaves for his honeymoon with Julia.

Cast

Production

Development

"I think the problem with third movies is the people who are financing them are experts on how they should be made and what they should be. At that point, when you own a franchise like that, you want to get rid of any extraneous opinions."

—David Fincher, on contributing to a film series[5]

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.[6] Fincher, however, dropped out in favor of another film,[7] later citing creative differences over the direction of the series.[5] Replacing Fincher was director Joe Carnahan, who worked on developing the film for 15 months.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

After a dispute over the film's tone, Carnahan quit in July 2004.[7] Tom Cruise then called J. J. Abrams, offering the directorial role for the film after having binge-watched the first two seasons of Alias.[12] Abrams ultimately signed on, with production delayed a year due to his contractual obligations with Alias and Lost.[13] During this time, Branagh, Moss, and Johansson departed from the project because of the many delays in production.[7][14] 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, with Cruise taking a major pay cut.[14]

Filming

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.[12]

Music

Main article: Mission: Impossible III (soundtrack)

The film's musical score was composed by Michael Giacchino. He is the third composer to take on the series, following Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. The score album was released on May 9, 2006 by Varèse Sarabande Records. Unlike the previous installments, no soundtrack album featuring the film's contemporary music was released. Despite this, the film features a song by Kanye West entitled "Impossible" that also features Twista, Keyshia Cole and BJ.[15]

Distribution

Marketing

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, and in many cases 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 and 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.[16]

"Trapped in the Closet" controversy

Main article: Trapped in the Closet (South Park)

A blog entry of Hollywoodinterrupted.com in March 2006 alleged that Viacom (parent of Paramount and Comedy Central) canceled the rebroadcast of the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet" due to threats by Cruise to refuse to participate in the Mission: Impossible III publicity circle.[17][18] These assertions were soon also reported by E! News and American Morning.[18][19]

Fox News attributed threats from Cruise, stating, "to back out of his Mission: Impossible III promotional duties if Viacom didn't pull a repeat of the episode", as evidence of "bad blood" between Cruise and Viacom.[20] The Washington Post reported that South Park fans "struck back", in March 2006, and threatened to boycott Mission: Impossible III until Comedy Central put "Trapped in the Closet" back on its schedule.[21] Melissa McNamara of CBS News later questioned whether this boycott hurt the film's box office debut.[22] Political blogger Andrew Sullivan encouraged a boycott of the film, based on claims that Cruise allegedly forced Comedy Central to censor a South Park episode about Scientologists. "Make sure you don't go see Paramount's Mission: Impossible III, Cruise's upcoming movie," Sullivan wrote. "I know you weren't going to see it anyway. But now any money you spend on this movie is a blow against freedom of speech. Boycott it. Tell your friends to boycott it."[23]

When asked in ABC's Primetime about his involvement with stopping the episode rebroadcast on Comedy Central, Cruise stated "First of all, could you ever imagine sitting down with anyone? I would never sit down with someone and question them on their beliefs. Here's the thing: I'm really not even going to dignify this. I honestly didn't really even know about it. I'm working, making my movie, I've got my family. I'm busy. I don't spend my days going, 'What are people saying about me?'"[24]

Reception

Box office

Opening in 4,054 theaters all across the United States,[25] the fourth largest opening ever up to that point,[26] 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,[25] a solid opening yet almost $10 million lower than the franchise's previous films.[27] The film remained at number one with $25 million during its second weekend, ahead of Poseidon's gross of $22.2 million.[25] The film remained in the Top 10 at the box office for the remainder of its first six weeks.[25] It ended its initial domestic run on July 20, 2006, taking in a total of $134 million.[25] It was the second movie in 2006 to pass the $100,000,000 mark in the box office, following Ice Age: The Meltdown.[citation needed] The $134 million domestic run was significantly lower than that of Mission: Impossible 2.[25]

Outside the US, the film grossed $70 million during its first five days (in some Asian countries, it opened two days ahead of its North American release date) and was easily the box-office champion in many countries.[25] As of 2017, its international box office gross has reached $263.8 million for a combined worldwide gross of $397.8 million, the lowest so far of the series and the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2006.[25]

In the Netherlands, the film debuted at No. 1 in the week of May 4–10, grossing a total of € 532,384. The following week, the film remained on the top position. In its third, the film dropped to No. 2 and fell to No. 4 to the following week. Next, it maintained the No. 4 position to drop to No. 6 (in the week of June 6 - June 14). In total, the film has grossed over €2,141,162. Mission Impossible III took less than half at the box office than Fallout and to date Mission Impossible III is the lowest-grossing film in the series.[28]

Critical response

On the film-critics aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Mission: Impossible III received 71% positive reviews from critics, with an average of 6.6/10, based on 224 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fast-paced, with eye-popping stunts and special effects, the latest Mission: Impossible installment delivers everything an action fan could ask for. A thrilling summer popcorn flick."[29] It holds a similar rating on Metacritic, with an average score of 66/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on a normalized average of 42 reviews.[4] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale, an improvement on the first two installments.[30]

On the television show Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper gave Mission: Impossible III a "thumbs up," while Roger Ebert gave it a marginal "thumbs down."[31] In Ebert's print review, he gave the film a score of two and a half stars out of four, saying, "Either you want to see mindless action and computer-generated sequences executed with breakneck speed and technical precision, or you do not. I am getting to the point where I don't much care." He felt "surprised that the plot hangs together more than in the other two films."[32]

Keith Phipps of The Onion's A.V. Club said the film is "business as usual, but it's the best kind of business as usual, and it finds everyone working in top form."[33] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called Mission: Impossible III "a gratifyingly clever, booby-trapped thriller that has enough fun and imagination and dash to more than justify its existence."[34] Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle said that "it's all poppycock, of course, but it's done with such vim and vigor and both narrative and visual flair that you care not a jot."[35] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film a score of two and a half stars out of four, saying that it "provides lots of action, but too little excitement."[36]

Ian Nathan of Empire said that Mission: Impossible III has "an inspired middle-hour pumped by some solid action" but added that "we now live in a post-Bourne, recalibrated-Bond universe, where Ethan Hunt looks a bit lost."[37] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said that "Hoffman enlivens Mission: Impossible III" but criticized the film's "maudlin romance" and "Abrams's inability to adapt his small-screen talent to a larger canvas."[38] Rob Nelson of the Dallas Observer said that "Abrams's movie is too oppressive, too enamored of its brutality to deliver anything like real thrills; its deeply unpleasant tone nearly makes you long even for [Mission: Impossible 2 director John] Woo's cartoon absurdities."[39]

Claudia Puig of USA Today said that "Mission: Impossible III delivers" despite "a sense that the franchise is played out and its star over-exposed."[40] Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide described the film as "breezy, undemanding, and a carefully balanced blend of the familiar and the not-quite-what-you-expected."[41] Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer said that Mission: Impossible III is "plenty of fun" despite being "overwrought and overplotted."[42]

Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat said that "you may be mildly entertained, but damned if you'll remember any of it five minutes later."[43] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com said that "Cruise is the single bright, blinking emblem of the failure of Mission: Impossible III."[44] William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer remarked that "the latest [Mission: Impossible film] is just this side of insultingly stupid."[45] Shawn Levy of The Oregonian said that Mission: Impossible III "feels like one of the more forgettable James Bond films—saddled, moreover, with a star who's sliding into self-parody."[46]

Home media

Mission: Impossible III was released on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray on October 30, 2006, the first film by a studio to be released simultaneously in all three formats.[47] A 4K UHD Blu-ray release occurred on June 26, 2018.[48]

Sequel

Main article: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

References

  1. ^ "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. April 18, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  2. ^ Snyder, Gabriel (March 12, 2006). "Summer survey". Variety. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  3. ^ "Mission: Impossible III (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Mission: Impossible III Archived April 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Metacritic.
  5. ^ a b Horowitz, Josh (January 7, 2008). "David Fincher Discusses Reunion With Brad Pitt, Possible 'Fight Club' Musical". MTV News. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  6. ^ "Fincher in frame for Mission: Impossible 3". The Guardian. April 12, 2002. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c "Scarlett Aborts "Mission"". E! Online. May 9, 2005.
  8. ^ Davis, Erik (February 4, 2013). "Watch: Joe Carnahan on Hollywood A-Holes, Ugly Budgets and Filming Himself Quitting 'Mission: Impossible III'". Movies.com. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  9. ^ "Joe Carnahan: "My 'Mission: Impossible' Was Better"". Hollywood.com. April 4, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  10. ^ Mission: Impossible III (2006) - IMDb, retrieved July 3, 2019
  11. ^ Havens, Edward (September 5, 2003). ""Mission: Impossible 3" Looking for Girl". FilmJerk.com. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  12. ^ a b The Making of the Mission (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment. 2006.
  13. ^ Foreman, Liza (August 12, 2004). "Cruise halts 'Mission 3' for Spielberg film". NBC News. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  14. ^ a b Susman, Gary (June 8, 2005). "War of the Wallets". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  15. ^ "Kanye West's Mission Impossible". IGN. February 8, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  16. ^ "Mission Illogical: Movie Promotion Puts Lives 'at Risk'". May 5, 2006.
  17. ^ Ebner, Mark (March 16, 2006). "Scientologist Tom Cruise Blackmails Viacom into Pulling the "Trapped in the Closet" Episode of South Park". Hollywood, Interrupted. Archived from the original on March 5, 2009.
  18. ^ a b Ryan, Joel (March 13, 2006). ""The Closet," the Controversy--and Cruise". E! Online. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  19. ^ O'Brien, Soledad; John Roberts (March 21, 2006). "Storms Blanket Midwest; Insurgents Launch Full-Scale Attack on Iraqi Police". American Morning. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  20. ^ Friedman, Roger (August 23, 2006). "Cruise Ambushed by 'Broke' Studio?". Fox News Channel. Archived from the original on November 13, 2007.
  21. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (March 23, 2006). "'South Park' Responds: Chef's Goose Is Cooked". The Washington Post. p. C07.
  22. ^ McNamara, Melissa (May 10, 2006). "Did Bloggers Doom 'M:i:III'?". CBS News. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  23. ^ http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2006/03/cruise_control.html[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^ "Cruise: 'No Oprah Regrets'". hollywood.com. April 16, 2006. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h Mission: Impossible III at Box Office Mojo Retrieved 2010-01-01.
  26. ^ "Movies With the Widest Openings at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  27. ^ "Mission: Impossible Movies Opening Weekends". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  28. ^ "Business Data for Mission: Impossible III". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
  29. ^ "Mission: Impossible III". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
  30. ^ "Home - Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  31. ^ "Ebert & Roeper, Reviews for the Weekend of May 6–7, 2006". Archived from the original on July 1, 2006. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
  32. ^ Roger Ebert (May 4, 2006). "Mission: Impossible III review". Chicago Sun-Times.
  33. ^ Mission: Impossible III review Archived September 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club, May 3, 2006
  34. ^ Mission: Impossible III review Archived September 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly.
  35. ^ Mission: Impossible III review Archived October 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle.
  36. ^ Mission: Impossible III review, James Berardinelli, ReelViews.
  37. ^ Mission: Impossible III review[permanent dead link‍], Ian Nathan, Empire.
  38. ^ Mission: Impossible III review, Manohla Dargis, The New York Times.
  39. ^ Mission: Impossible III review Archived February 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Rob Nelson, Dallas Observer.
  40. ^ Mission: Impossible III review, Claudia Puig, USA Today.
  41. ^ Mission: Impossible III review[permanent dead link‍], Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide
  42. ^ Mission: Impossible III review[permanent dead link‍], Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer.
  43. ^ Mission: Impossible III review Archived January 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Pete Vonder Haar, Film Threat
  44. ^ Mission: Impossible III review Archived December 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Stephanie Zacharek, Salon
  45. ^ Mission: Impossible III review, William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  46. ^ Mission: Impossible III review, Shawn Levy, The Oregonian.
  47. ^ Garrett, Diane (October 30, 2006). "Par homevid on 'Mission'". Variety. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  48. ^ "Mission: Impossible III DVD Release Date October 30, 2006". DVDs Release Dates. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
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