New M:I movie title is Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation

Tom Cruise

Paramount said today that the fifth Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible movie will be titled Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation and the movie’s trailer is due out March 23.

The studio also released a television commercial, a kind of teaser to the teaser trailer. According to the video, the title refers to the Syndicate, “a rogue nation trained to do what we do,” in the words of Cruise’s Ethan Hunt.

In the original 1966-73 television series, the Syndicate referred to the Mafia and organized crime. M:I and other shows of the era — including Mannix, a private eye drama from the same production company — avoided direct references to the Mafia.

The existence of the 21st century version of the Syndicate was teased at the end of 2011’s Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.

Paramount originally planned to release Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation on Dec. 25, but moved it up to July 31.

Here’s the commercial released today:

UPDATE: Vanity Fair has an article how Cruise performed the signature stunt shown at the end of the video. To view it, CLICK HERE.

Director says M:I 5 wraps production

Director Christopher McQuarrie said on Twitter that Mission: Impossible 5 has completed production.

McQuarrie said he took a “12 hour vacation” before starting post-production on the movie starring and produced by Tom Cruise. Paramount moved up the film’s release date to July 31 from Dec. 25.

The tweets are below.

That's a wrap. 1000 thanks to our incredible cast and crew. You truly achieved the impossible. #MI5Diary pic.twitter.com/WfNPIXRVlp

— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) March 12, 2015

After a peaceful 12 hour vacation, post-production begins. Summer is coming… #MI5Diary

— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) March 13, 2015

M:I 5’s director says title, trailer coming soon

Tom Cruise

Christopher McQuarrie, director of the Tom Cruise movie Mission: Impossible 5, last week revealed a little detail in a Q&A session on Twitter.

McQuarrie said March 7 the movie’s actual title will be revealed soon. Also, he said, a first trailer is coming soon. No specific details, however.

The director also was also asked if the movie’s ending had to be reshot. “No. We had to prep it. Shooting it now.”

Paramount moved up the movie’s release date to July 31 from Dec. 25. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER reported last month that the production had “shut down for a week or so in London because the film’s ending was deemed unsatisfactory.”

In response to one question, the director said: “we are constantly rewriting and have been since day one. Not unusual. Story was a reach.”

Anyway, here are some of the tweets by the director:

No. We had to prep it. Shooting it now. “@48fps: @chrismcquarrie Did You really have to reshoot the ending? #McQAndA”

— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) March 7, 2015

@paullferrer @48fps @MI5Film @ParamountPics we are constantly rewriting and have been since day one. Not unusual. Story was a reach.

— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) March 8, 2015

Yes. RT “@ireneacton386: @chrismcquarrie Will we get a name and trailer soon #McQAndA”

— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) March 7, 2015

Mission: Impossible 5 resumes production

Tom Cruise

Mission: Impossible 5 is back in production after a short break to revamp its ending, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY SAID ON ITS WEBSITE.

An excerpt:

EW has confirmed that production on Mission: Impossible 5 halted for one week so that the ending to the film could be reworked. The production, which is shooting in London, has now resumed and is currently in the process of filming the revised ending.

The delay to change the ending was reported earlier by THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Director Christopher McQuarrie earlier in the week has said via Twitter the movie hadn’t completed production yet.

None of this would have been a big deal except Paramount moved M:I 5’s release date up to July 31 from Dec. 25. This occurred more or less at the same time the production team concluded the ending needed to be changed.

The M:I movie franchise, featuring star-producer Tom Cruise, has been a financial success for Paramount. The studio has some experience with high wire acts, such as World War Z, directed by Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster, which had a totally changed ending.

Director’s Mission: Impossible 5 update

Tom Cruise

UPDATE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER reported today that Mission: Impossible 5 shut down production “for a week or so” recently to revamp the ending.

Brief excerpt:

Director Christopher McQuarrie was given the extra time to work out a new and improved finale with a writer friend whose identity remains a mystery and who will neither be paid nor credited.

ORIGINAL POST: Christopher McQuarrie, the director of Mission: Impossible 5, this week provided a brief update via Twitter, including the fact the movie is still in production.

Paramount moved up the film to July 31 after originally scheduling it for Christmas. There isn’t a teaser trailer yet. McQuarrie said on Feb. 16 it’s, “In process.”

M:I 5, to date, hasn’t been publicized as much as other entries in 2015’s “Year of the Spy.” SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond film, had the usual media coverage that occurs with the start of a 007 film’s production. It got a new burst of publicity this week as filming began in Rome.

Kingsman: The Secret Service geared up publicity with last year’s San Diego comic book convention and arrived in U.S. theaters this month. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie’s teaser trailer debuted on Feb. 11, accompanied by stories in Entertainment Weekly and People.

M:I 5’s profile presumably will be raised soon with the new release date. The movie has a high-profile star-producer in Tom Cruise and the series’ most recent entry in 2011 was a big hit.

Anyway, here’s McQuarrie’s post on Twitter:

To everyone asking about the trailer: In process. To everyone asking if we’re wrapped: Not yet. I promise to announce both. #MI5Diary

— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) February 16, 2015

Year of the Spy: Warner Bros. dodges M:I 5

Tom Cruise

Paramount’s decision to move Mission Impossible 5 up to late July has caused Warner Bros. to change its summer release schedule — but not (at least for now) its movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Warners had its Point Break action movie slotted for July 31. That was before M:I 5, with star-producer Tom Cruise, was placed on the same date after originally being scheduled for Dec. 25.

So now, Warners has moved Point Break to Dec. 25, according to the BOX OFFICE MOJO WEBSITE. Thus M:I 5 and Point Break have swapped their original release date.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E., also from Warners, is still slotted in for Aug. 14, just two weeks after M:I 5. Thus, movies based on two 1960s spy shows still will debut just a fortnight apart.

‘Year of the Spy’ gets a shakeup: M:I 5 moved up 5 months

Tom Cruise

The “Year of the Spy” has just been shaken up. Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 5 has been moved up five months to July 31 from Dec. 25, according to the BOX OFFICE MOJO website.

The move gets M:I and its star-producer out of the busy Christmas season, which includes Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens on Dec. 18. Paramount, the studio behind the M:I movies, rescheduled a movie called Monster Trucks to Dec. 25 from May 29.

M:I’s new release date may also be bad news for Warner Bros. The studio has an action movie called Point Break due out on July 31 and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. two weeks later, on Aug. 14.

The U.N.C.L.E. movie was given the mid-August date after being rescheduled from Jan. 16. Warner Bros. ended up giving a wide release to American Sniper in mid-January, and it has been a big hit. The question now is whether Warner Bros. will be tempted to change U.N.C.L.E.’s release date again.

Of course, Cruise originally had been attached to the U.N.C.L.E. movie to play Napoleon Solo. He pulled out to concentrate on the new M:I movie, with Henry Cavill accepting the Solo role.

Preview of 2015’s ‘Year of the Spy’

Taken 3 poster

We’re just a few days away from 2015, which will be the “Year of the Spy” in theaters. It might not be 1966 all over again but fans of spy movies will have choices in the new year.

What follows is a preview of five notable entries, listed by U.S. release date.

Taken 3, Jan. 9: This is the poster child for how studios like to take successful movies and turn them into “franchises.”

2009’s Taken was a modestly budgeted $25 million, according to Box Office Mojo, which generated almost $227 million in worldwide box office. It concerned a retired CIA agent (Liam Neeson) who springs into action after his college age daughter is kidnapped in Europe. It helped make Neeson, now 62, an action hero.

A sequel, Taken 2, came out in 2012. The budget went up, at $45 million, but worldwide box office also increased to $376 million. Thus, a trilogy was inevitable. Whether the saga of Bryan Mills is worth a third installment remains to be seen.

Kingsman: The Secret Service, Feb. 13: For more than a decade, grim and gritty has dominated the cinema spy scene. The Bourne films, the rebooted James Bond franchise and other films set a serious tone.

Kingsman, directed by Matthew Vaughn, draws upon more escapist spy entertainment of the 1960s.

The film is based on a comic book, The Secret Service, that was about MI6. The movie’s organization is a mysterious, international group, a la The Man From U.N.C.L.E. television series (it even has a secret entrance similar to U.N.C.L.E.’s) In July, at the massive San Diego comic book convention, principals of the film mentioned ’60s style Bond movies and The Avengers television series as influences.

Kingsman may be a test whether the spy pendulum swings back toward escapist. In the U.S., the movie opens opposite the anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey, which will provide a test of a different sort.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Aug. 14: A more accurate title for the Guy Ritchie-directed film might be The Man Without U.N.C.L.E.

Ritchie’s film is an origin story. There is no U.N.C.L.E. at the start of the tale. Instead, CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) are required to join forces. It’s a Solo-Kuryakin story that won’t have many of the memes of the original 1964-68 television series.

U.N.C.L.E. originally was slated for a mid-January release date, but got put back to mid-August instead. The move came after Warner Bros. conducted test screenings in June. The optimistic interpretation is it’s a sign the studio is higher on the movie than previously. We’ll see.

SPECTRE, Nov. 6: The 24th James Bond film produced by Eon Productions has had more public intrigue than usual because of the hacking of documents at Sony Pictures.

Because of the hacks, details about the movie’s budget and script development have become public. Thus, it’s possible to see some of the sausage making associated with movie production in the case of SPECTRE. Even before the hacks, Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail had reported how screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were summmoned to revamp John Logan’s original draft.

Still, Bond is Bond. The film is Daniel Craig’s fourth turn as 007. Sam Mendes, the director of 2012’s Skyfall, is back as well. This will be the first time the same director has helmed consecutive Bond films since John Glen’s run in the 1980s, when he directed five in a row.

Mission: Impossible 5, Dec. 25: The latest Tom Cruise M:I film hasn’t gotten as much attention as you might expect for a Cruise project. The star-producer’s last M:I entry, in 2011, was a hit. This time out, M:I will come out just a week after Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. So it’ll be interesting to see if Cruise’s Ethan Hunt can still find an audience.

Spy entertainment to watch in 2014

It’s only a few days before the near year. So it’s not too early to think about spy-related entertainment coming up in 2014.

Daniel Craig during the filming of Skyfall

Bond 24 begins filming: The 24th 007 film produced by Eon Productions probably will go into production toward the end of the year to meet is October (U.K.)/November (U.S.) 2015 release date.

There’s not much hard information, other than Daniel Craig is back as Bond, Sam Mendes is again directing and John Logan is writing the script.

Ralph Fiennes, whose Mallory became the new M at the end of 2012’s Skyfall, TOLD REUTERS IN A DEC. 24 STORY that, “I know nothing, I’ve not been told anything, I have no information, no dates, no sense of the journey of my character at all! I don’t!”

If Bond 24 follows the same path as Skyfall, casting details will dribble out, though not be confirmed initially. With Skyfall, the casting of Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Javier Bardem were all reported long before the movie started principal photography in November 2011.

U.N.C.L.E. movie (probably) arrives in theaters: Director Guy Ritchie’s movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. wrapped production the first week of December. Warner Bros. hasn’t publicly announced a release date but there’s certainly enough post-production time for a fall 2014 release.

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer
(Art by Paul Baack)

The movie, starring Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer as Illya Kuryakin, will be the first U.N.C.L.E. production since the 1983 television movie The Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which reunited Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, the stars of the original 1964-68 television series.

The film will also be a test whether there’s a mass audience in the 21st century for U.N.C.L.E., a “utopian” spy concept in which agents from opposing sides in the Cold War could unite against common menaces. The movie will be set in the 1960s, the same as the original show.

Mission: Impossible 5 starts production: Tom Cruise is back for a fifth time as the star of a Mission: Impossible film, which will be released at Christmas 2015. Cruise had been slated to star in the U.N.C.L.E. movie as Solo but dropped out as M:I 5 (which his production company produces) developed. That move gave the opening for Cavill’s casting in the U.N.C.L.E. movie.

Cruise’s most recent M:I film, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, was a hit while while paying homages to the original 1966-73 television series, while the original 1996 movie turned Jim Phelps into a villain. Since then, Cruise has had his ups and downs. So he could use another financially successful M:I movie.

Golfinger’s 50th anniversary: 1964’s Goldfinger turned Bond into a worldwide phenomenon. Dr. No’s 50th anniversary got a lot of attention, in part because Skyfall was coming out. It’ll be interesting to see if Goldfinger’s golden anniversary draws attention.