Tom Cruise was originally supposed to step away from his role in the Mission: Impossible franchise after 2011's Ghost Protocol to make way for Jeremy Renner. It all changed when Christopher McQuarrie was brought in to handle rewrites, and now it's difficult to imagine anyone else as the lead in this franchise.
It's believed that at the time Cruise had a fraught relationship with the studio after his marriage to Katie Holmes became tabloid fodder. Renner plays Ethan Hunt's protégé in the movie, with many people feeling like he was being prepared to take over as the lead of the franchise.
Of course, Tom Cruise stayed on playing Ethan Hunt for more films and Jeremy Renner's character hasn't been seen since Rogue Nation. Cruise can next be seen in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.
Why Tom Cruise Was Being Replaced In Mission Impossible?
Although now Tom Cruise is one of the most successful blockbuster actors his career has had dips. The star was once better known for his public outbursts than his on-screen stunts.
After he jumped on the couch of The Oprah Winfrey Show to display his enthusiasm for his then-girlfriend, he hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. It didn't help that soon after he went on The Today Show and started an argument over the validity of psychiatry.
The press was so bad, Paramount Pictures, who had a 14-year history with Cruise, cut ties with the actor. It wasn't until 2008 that he mended his relationship with studio head Sumner Redstone. The studio wanted to breathe life into the Mission Impossible franchise and to do that, they wanted Cruise to come back but not for very long.
What Was Supposed To Happen To Tom Cruise's Character In Mission Impossible?
The rumor that Cruise was meant to depart the franchise was on the Light the Fuse Podcast by cinematographer Robert Elswit. According to Elswit, the original plan was for Cruise to become the new IMF director at the end of the movie.
"The original version of this movie was at the end of it Tom Cruise stops being Ethan Hunt the agent and becomes Ethan Hunt the Secretary," he explained.
"The whole version of this was they were gonna put another IMF Mission unit together with another actor — maybe it's Jeremy Renner, who knows who it is — and they're gonna go through this series of wild events, and at the end Tom gets to be the Secretary and a new agent takes over the franchise. Which I think seemed kind of nutty, but that was kind of the marching orders."
Cruise wasn't keen on this original ending and brought in frequent collaborator Chris McQuarrie (The pair worked together on Valkyrie and Edge of Tomorrow) to fix it.
"Chris McQuarrie and Tom sat down and said, 'How do we fix this?'... Chris came in and he kind of rewrote it, the last half, maybe more, and made it so that we had to change a few things that we shot at the beginning, like add lines, reshoot little pieces so that it all made sense," Elswit explained. "He tied the whole thing together and made it so that at the end of the movie, Tom ends up not becoming the Secretary but just goes on in his own lonely way."
How Tom Cruise Had To Convince Jeremy Renner To Join The Franchise
Jeremy Renner wasn't interested in starring in multiple franchises, but that was until he was approached by Tom Cruise to make a Mission: Impossible movie. He was already appearing in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and The Avengers, but Cruise is a hard man to say no to.
The actor tells MTV News that he went to meet director J.J. Abrams when he was ambushed into an impromptu meeting with Tom Cruise at Paramount Studios. The film, which would become Ghost Protocol wouldn't even have a script yet when Cruise pitched it to the star.
“It was a strange experience and an interesting meeting,” Renner told MTV. He declined to commit to the film and decided to go home and think the proposition over.
“And by the time I get home on my motorcycle, I get off my helmet, and the phone rings, and it’s Tom calling me at my house. I’m like, ‘That’s weird, Tom Cruise is calling me at home’…. So he’s like, ‘Are we doing this? Come on, are we doing it?’ So now all of a sudden I’m signed on to do three Mission: Impossible movies with Tom.”
How Jeremy Renner Felt About Taking Over The Franchise
Renner has never confirmed or denied that he was originally set to take over the franchise. He did tease MTV at the time about his role in the future of the films, "It's a franchise to potentially take over...I can't predict the future and what they want, but that's certainly the idea."
When asked during the press junket about the finished movie, he said. "No, I don’t think that’s ever really a possibility.” By the time the film had been rewritten and shot, Renner was sure he would not be taking over as the Mission Impossible lead.
"I think the possibility, first and foremost, is for audiences to receive this movie and like it, want to see more," he told Extra when promoting the fourth instalment of the action movie franchise. "And then it’s Tom’s willingness to want to do another one, to put together another big movie like this. These aren’t easy to put together. So if Paramount and Tom want me to do it, I’d be happy to be a part of it. I’d be up for it… assuming my character doesn’t croak. I’m not going to tell ya!’"
Despite playing an important IMF agent, Renner's character has been absent since Rogue Nation due to his commitment to the MCU.
