Few stars are as fit in old age as Tom Cruise (61). The forever young at heart actor still does his own stunts, no matter how dangerous. Nevertheless, a digital rejuvenation of Cruise for his recently released action hit “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”, which is currently in cinemas, was up for debate.

“Originally there was a whole sequence at the beginning of the film that was supposed to take place in 1989,” says director Christopher McQuarrie (54) “Total Film” and “GamesRadar”. “We talked about it as a cold open, we talked about it as flashbacks in the movie, we looked at de-aging. ” So we’re talking about an artificial rejuvenation of Cruise, similar to what was done, for example, by Harrison Ford (81) in “Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny”.

However, one very specific thing bothered McQuarrie about the technology. “I was so distracted by an actor I’ve known for whatever length of time suddenly being this young person.” As a result, he was unable to follow the story that was actually told.

Perhaps the technology could be used in future McQuarrie films. At some point during his research, he “cracked the code” on how best to apply de-aging procedures, the director continues. At this point, however, the “Mission: Impossible” scene had already been said goodbye. “We could still play with it. We never say never,” he promises.

Perhaps the director has come up with an idea for the second “Dead Reckoning” part, which is scheduled to start in summer 2024. Or possibly even many more films in the series, because Cruise would still be on board. Referring to his colleague Ford, he told the Sydney Morning Herald in early July: “Harrison Ford is a legend, I hope I can go on, I have 20 years to catch up. I hope to continue’ mission :Impossible’ movies until I’m his age.”