Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Director Reveals Staggering Number of VFX Shots

Paramount Pictures finally released the highly anticipated seventh installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, and fans loved the most recent look at what Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is doing next. Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One was released to some of the best reviews of the year, and it definitely lives up to the hype. From everything that was released in the trailers, Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One was shaping up to be one of the most action-packed films of the year. As it turns out, the film features a lot of visual effects shots, and that includes the shot of Cruise actually driving a motorcycle off of a mountain. In a new interview with PostPerspective, director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that the film has 2,500 VFX shots.

"There were 2,500. While Mission is almost entirely practical, there is a great deal of VFX work — removing camera rigs and safety gear, etc. The underwater submarine shots are entire CGI, which was a very big point of concern for me," McQuarrie said. "I am deeply skeptical of purely CGI shots, particularly when they are the opening and closing shots of the film.Special effects supervisor Alex Wuttke assured me it could be made to work, and I was satisfied with the end result. The shot above the ice at the end of the film is practical, captured when we filmed the Arctic portions of Dead Reckoning Part Two in March of '23, just a few months before completion of Part One."

"With over 2,500 shots, many of which were extremely ambitious, it's hard to pick just one. The motorcycle jump, despite being shot on the first day of principal photography, was one of the very last shots to make final. The shot in the trailer is not the finished product." The Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning director added.

What Goes Down In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One?

Tom Cruise is back as the iconic action hero Ethan Hunt in the seventh installment, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which is set to make its way into theaters next week. It's the beginning of the end for the action-packed franchise, as Cruise reteams with longtime collaborator and director Christopher McQuarrie for more death-defying and breathtaking stunts. Hunt and allies Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) attempt to track down a new weapon with the power to tear the world apart. Actors Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales join the cast for the latest installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which is set to wrap up with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is in theaters now with a second part, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, in production and will hit theaters on June 28, 2024, but could wind up being delayed due to the ongoing WGA strike. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on the Mission: Impossible franchise as we learn it!

What do you think about Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One? Did you like the VFX shots? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!