The Mission: Impossible franchise changed Tom Cruise’s mind about sequels, reversing the A-list star’s career path and establishing him as a new type of action hero. The idea of Cruise being a central figure in a highly successful film series doesn’t seem bizarre today, specifically because Mission: Impossible has built its strengths around Cruise. Before the series ever even got off the ground, no one was thinking that Cruise would be able to so drastically change his appeal as an actor while still staying true to the type of dramatic fare he was fond of throughout the 1980s and early '90s.

Yet that’s exactly what happened. Today Mission: Impossible films are highly anticipated, due in large part to Cruise’s dedication to constantly upping the ante with death-defying stunts. It’s safe to say that without the sequels that Mission: Impossible offers, Cruise might not have found a suitable series to take on the big stunt challenges that currently seem to fuel his career. Given this dedication on Cruise’s part, it’s hard to believe that there was a time when he wasn’t interested in film sequels at all. At some point, however, something changed for Cruise.

Cruise Needed A Sequel Story To Go Somewhere

Cruise revealed to Entertainment Tonight, that he had a rule about not doing sequels earlier in his career. More interested in chasing critical acclaim and making films that audiences could connect with, it wasn’t until he realized that making sequels didn’t erase the potential for artistic and logistical quality that his mind opened to the possibilities of a franchise. Previous concerns about how to develop characters and how to make the stories evolve became less of a concern to Cruise once he realized that there was a clear way around this problem. What needed to be done, he decided, was to bring on a different director for each installment.

There’s no denying that sequels are a major aspect of filmmaking today. Because of this, it doesn’t seem that surprising that Cruise would decide that making Mission: Impossible sequels was the right decision to make. However, it’s important to keep in mind that when the first Mission: Impossible film was released it was 1996. Not only was the idea of turning a TV series into a film not a popular or common concept, but sequels and franchises weren’t either. This isn’t to say that there weren’t some very popular sequels during the time, but overall the sequel was not a big enough concept to apply to most films.

Different Directors Meant Different Stories For Tom Cruise To Work With

Part of Cruise’s realization that different directors was the way forward with Mission: Impossible undoubtedly occurred as a result of Brian De Palma’s departure. Shortly after Mission: Impossible's release, De Palma was asked by Cruise to begin work on a follow-up. De Palma had zero interest in this prospect and so, Cruise moved on to another director, settling on John Woo for Mission: Impossible 2. Whether Woo gave the series was favorable is often debated among fans, but there’s no denying that it represented a stark difference from De Palma’s vision. That, in a nutshell, was exactly what Cruise was looking for.

With each successive installment from Mission: Impossible 2 until Mission: Impossible – Fallout, a new director was brought on. For the time being, it seems as though Christopher McQuarrie is the director of choice, having ed the franchise with 2015’s Rogue Nation and remained. However, by the time McQuarrie arrived, Cruise seemed to have gotten his aversion to sequels. Each new Mission: Impossible installment brought more to the table, and Cruise had carved out a strong niche for himself within the series. This new side of Cruise arguably owed its evolution to sequels and the new stories that each new Mission: Impossible film brought.

Source: Entertainment Tonight