Tom Cruise talks the making of Mission: Impossible with director Christopher McQuarrie in exclusive interview clip

Mission: Impossible is fast approaching its 25th anniversary. To celebrate, Tom Cruise sat down with Mission: Impossible 7 director Christopher McQuarrie to discuss how the first film came into being – and we have an exclusive clip from the conversation between the two.

Cruise brought the role of Ethan Hunt to life in Mission: Impossible, which debuted in '96. It was also the first film the actor had produced.

"I looked at Paramount and I thought what I wanted to produce was something – I looked at it in many different ways… I wanted something that was going to be very commercial, potentially, but I wanted something that was going to be artistically challenging," Cruise explains.

"What is the challenge of this thing going to be? I wanted it to be an international film, and an international cast," Cruise adds. "Which at that time was different. I wanted to shoot it in England... I remember they said, 'Can't you shoot it in LA, or New York?' And I was like no, I actually, I want to go to London."

Mission: Impossible, directed by Brian De Palma, launched an action-packed, star-studded franchise – with one of cinema's most recognizable theme tunes – and is still going strong all these years later, with the seventh movie in the series set to arrive in 2022 (the pandemic pushed it back from its original July 2021 date).

McQuarrie is both writer and director of the seventh installment, and has previously helmed Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible – Fallout – and is also writing and directing Mission: Impossible 8.

The seventh movie's cast includes, along with Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Vanessa Kirby, Indira Varma, and Angela Bassett.

While you wait for Mission: Impossible 7, the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of Mission: Impossible releases on May 24 in the UK, and is available now in the US.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.