Lesser known facts about the Mission Impossible franchise

It is a reboot of a 1966 series of the same name, starring Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, and Greg Morris

Many of the action scenes in ‘Mission: Impossible 2’ were already planned before the script. The story was later built around it

During the final fight between Dougray Scott’s Sean Ambrose and Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in ‘Mission: Impossible 2’, a real knife was used upon the insistence of Cruise

‘Mission: Impossible III’ was the feature film directorial debut of J.J. Abrams [who later went on to direct Star Trek (2009)]

Real explosives and wind machines were used during the climax train scene in the first MI to simulate the dangerous environment

Many of the actors of the original TV series reacted badly to the first movie, as Jim Phelps, the protagonist of the 1966 original, was portrayed as a villain

Christopher McQuarrie is the only director to direct multiple movies of the franchise: ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’, ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’, and the upcoming ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’

Actress Rachel McAdams, who played Regina George in ‘Mean Girls’ and Allie Hamilton in ‘The Notebook’, was offered a role in MI:3

The character of Max, played by Vanessa Redgrave in ‘Mission: Impossible III’, was originally meant for a man

The first ‘MI’ film was completed ahead of schedule and under budget