Mission: Impossible III

***Mission: Impossible III*** is a 2006 American action spy movie directed by first-time director J. J. Abrams and is the third movie in the _Mission: Impossible_ series. It stars Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, Eddie Marsan and Laurence Fishburne. The movie was distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The movie had several changes in directors. The development for a third _Mission: Impossible_ movie started in 2002, with David Fincher being the intended director. He left due to creative differences. His replacement, Joe Carnahan, also left the movie production in July 2004 due to the same reason. Abrams was hired months later after he was approached by Cruise, who wanted him to direct the movie as he was a fan of Abrams' _Alias_ (2001–2006). However, this caused the movie to be further delayed due to Abrams' contract obligations for _Alias_ and _Lost_ (2006–2010), which resulted in potential cast additions such as Kenneth Branagh, Carrie-Anne Moss and Scarlett Johansson to leave. Principal photography began in July 2005 and ended in October. Filming locations include Shanghai, Berlin, Rome, Los Angeles, and the Vatican City.

_Mission: Impossible III_ premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2006, and was released in the United States on May 5. The sequel, _Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol_, was released in 2011.

## Cast

- Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and protagonist of the movie.
- Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, a computer hacker and IMF agent.
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Owen Davian, an arms dealer who looks for the Rabbit's Foot.
- Michelle Monaghan as Julia Meade, Ethan's fiancée and a nurse.
- Maggie Q as Zhen Lei, an IMF Agent who assists Ethan at the Vatican and Shanghai.
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Declan Gormley, an IMF Agent who assists Ethan at Vatican & Shanghai.
- Billy Crudup as John Musgrave, the IMF Assistant Director who recruits Ethan to find Farris, later to be found working with Davian
- Keri Russell as Lindsey Farris, an IMF agent held captive in Berlin.
- Simon Pegg as Benjamin "Benji" Dunn, an IMF agent and technician.
- Laurence Fishburne as Theodore Brassel, the IMF Director who recruits Ethan to find Davian.
- Bahar Soomekh as Davian's translator
- Jeff Chase as Davian's bodyguard
- Michael Berry Jr. as Julia's kidnapper
- Eddie Marsan as Brownway
- Bellamy Young as Rachael
- Carla Gallo as Beth
- Greg Grunberg as Kevin
- Rose Rollins as Ellie
- Sasha Alexander as Melissa Meade
- Aaron Paul as Rick Meade

### Development

In 2002, director David Fincher was supposed to direct the next movie of the _Mission: Impossible_ series. It was intended to be released in the summer of 2004. Fincher eventually dropped out because he wanted to focus on _Lord of Dogtown_ (2005). He later said that it was due to creative differences in the direction of the movie. Joe Carnahan was chosen to replace Fincher, and worked on developing the movie for fifteen months. Under Carnahan's direction, the movie would have featured "Kenneth Branagh playing a guy who's based on Timothy McVeigh," as well as Carrie-Anne Moss and Scarlett Johansson in other roles.

Carnahan quit in July 2004 due to a dispute over the movie's tone. J. J. Abrams was then offered the director's role by Tom Cruise after he had binge-watched the first two seasons of _Alias_. Abrams eventually signed on and production was delayed due to his contract obligations with _Alias_ and _Lost_. Due to the delay, Branagh, Moss, and Johansson departed from the project. Ricky Gervais was cast as Benjamin Dunn, but also left the project due to scheduling conflicts with _For Your Consideration_ (2006) as a result of production delays. On June 8, 2005, the movie was given the green light by Paramount Pictures after a new cast of actors was hired and the movie's budget was redeveloped, and Cruise took a major pay cut.

## Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 225 ratings are positive. The average rating is 6.60/10. On Metacritic, the movie has a score of 66 out of 100 based on 42 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

## Infobox (film)

- **name**: Mission: Impossible III
- **director**: J. J. Abrams
- **music**: Michael Giacchino
- **cinematography**: Dan Mindel
- **distributor**: Paramount Pictures
- **runtime**: 125 minutes
- **country**: United States
- **language**: English
- **budget**: $150–186 million
- **gross**: $398.5 million