Christopher McQuarrie Shoots Down ‘Mission: Impossible’ Spin-Offs But Hints At A Future Film With Rebecca Ferguson

Twelve years went by between filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie’s directorial debut with “The Way of the Gun” and his follow-up “Jack Reacher.” However, since 2012, McQuarrie has firmly planted himself as one of the best action directors working today with not one, but two great entries in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise. Not only has his last two ‘Mission’ films proven that Tom Cruise is still able to put his life in danger in various new and exciting ways, but the writer-director has also fleshed out his supporting cast, most notably with Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. However, according to McQuarrie, that doesn’t mean audiences should expect any spin-offs anytime soon.

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“Rebecca and I have talked about it, [producer] Jake Myers and I have talked about it, Tom [Cruise] and I have talked about it, it’s this … the spinoff, when we talked about it was like, what would the movie be? We’ve talked about many ‘Mission’ spinoffs, it’s not just about Ilsa. ‘Mission’ is so much about the exploits of this character. What would the spinoffs then be shaped like? Would they still be ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies? So much of what defines ‘Mission’ is the fact that Tom Cruise is doing all of these crazy things,” explained McQuarrie (via Collider).

That doesn’t mean that the filmmaker has no plans for Ferguson. On the contrary, McQuarrie has ideas. But those potential films don’t include a character named Ilsa Faust. He said, “Rebecca and I were talking about it, and I said, ‘I’ve got a better idea. You’re Rebecca, like let’s give you your identity,’ and I’m developing stuff with Rebecca to be Rebecca. And that’s what I would like to see. I feel like if you make an Ilsa spinoff, it would always be like, ‘When’s Ethan gonna make his cameo?’ And the thing that’s not to be underestimated about the role of Ilsa Faust, is that she is played by Rebecca Ferguson, who is a star. And it is a star that a lot of people haven’t figured out, haven’t woken up to that fact.”

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When asked what projects he might have lined up in the future, McQuarrie again referenced Ferguson and said, “I have the thing, it’s that thing. It’s the other one that I can’t get made, it’s for her. And I’m like, ‘Just do it, it’s so good.’ It’s so good. I didn’t write the script. It’s so good. [I was] crying at the end.”

And even though it’s clear that the filmmaker doesn’t want to spill the beans on what this film is, his excitement is just too much for him to contain and he has to let little morsels out. Although these morsels do nothing more than just tease and entice speculation.

“It’s a remake, and it’s so good. It’s a remake. And I’m one who’s like, ‘Don’t remake movies, unless,’ and it’s a very good movie, but a deeply flawed one, and you could just make a little change and put Rebecca Ferguson in and it’d be awesome…” teased McQuarrie.

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He continues by saying that whatever this remake is, it won’t be nearly the same budget as ‘Fallout,’ “This movie was completely scalable, I can make this movie for a fraction of what [‘Fallout’] cost… But the biggest version of this movie isn’t that big, and I said, ‘Just tell me what the budget is and I’ll back into it.’ Because I’ve learned my lesson, from trying to go to them with my dream movies, which can’t really be done.”

Look, normally we hate to hear the word “remake” being thrown around all the time in Hollywood. Just yesterday, we got news that the beautiful, amazing Norwegian film “Thelma” is getting an English-language remake, and that film is only a year old!

That being said, we have faith in Christopher McQuarrie. And whatever it is, we’re at least going to give the filmmaker the benefit of the doubt. He and Ferguson have earned that. So, bring it on!