Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 2 Director Reveals How Much Filming Is Left

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 is still being filmed as we speak according to the movie's director. Christopher McQuarrie was interviewed by Collider's Steve Weintraub during the movie's worldwide premiere. As for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2, a lot of the international locations are done. But, the biggest set piece at the heart of the movie is still left to hammer out. The creative team is already teasing the absolute scale of that one. McQuarrie also mentioned that there are some surprises waiting for fans in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2. Characters that didn't appear in the first installment, action sequences for the whole team, and much more. Check out what he had to say here.

McQuarrie began, "We've shot all but one of our international locations. We've shot our big action except for the biggest set piece, the central set piece of the film, which is massive and unlike anything we've done, and, I think, unlike anything you've seen."

"All the interstitial stuff is shot. There are characters in the movie you don't even know about yet. And I have one—how would I call it? It's a sidebar action sequence involving the team, which we haven't shot yet, and that's first up as soon as we get back," he continued. "It's involving elements that I've never worked with before. It's a big challenge, and it's a tight schedule. The plan to be wrapped for all principal photography is early next year."

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Brings the Stunts 

It's no secret that these big stunts have become the lifeblood of the Mission: Impossible brand. No one is driving that truck, or in this case motorcycle, harder than Tom Cruise. Comicbook.com's Brandon Davis spoke to McQuarrie about the hair-raising bike stunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1. The push to keep going bigger is keeping the director very busy. 

"There's not a chicken, there's not an egg," McQuarrie explained. "Sometimes we start with...like, Fallout started with the emotional story of Ethan and Julia, and the stunts were kind of put around in the periphery. The beginning of this one, I said, 'What do you want to do?' He said, 'I want to ride a motorcycle off a cliff. What do you want to do?' And I said, 'I want to wreck a train. Let's just wreck a train.' Of course, both of us at one point or another would remind the other, 'You know, this was your idea. You wanted to do this.' Tom was very fortunate in one respect becuase he got his stunt out of the way day one. I'm still shooting that train. That just took forever, and it was very, very challenging."

Christopher McQuarrie Knows The Weight of the Mission: Impossible Brand

Working in these big franchises can be a little tough. McQuarrie told Total Film that the realization came through very clear working on Top Gun: Maverick. It seems like people care about these long-established characters more than ever. So, the pressure is there, but the filmmaker feels like the team can meet that expectation.

"I don't take my position for granted. I don't take the audience's participation for granted. When we were making Top Gun: Maverick, I didn't take for granted that people loved that movie or that it was a 35-year-old cultural institution. I looked at it with a very suspicious and cynical eye towards Hollywood's tendency to make it a cash grab," McQuarrie said. "So, everything I do is to constantly check myself and remind myself that it does not matter what you did before, this is the one you're doing now. I'm terrified of the result of Dead Reckoning, which lives in the shadow of Fallout, which lives in the shadow of Rogue [Nation], and Ghost [Protocol], and all the other movies that came before it. I don't want to let the franchise down. I'm more frightened now than I was on my first Mission."

How Do We Get To Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two?

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which premieres in theaters on July 12th. It's the beginning of the end for the action-packed franchise, as Cruise reteams with longtime collaborator and filmmaker 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.

Are you amped to see Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One? Let us know in the comments!