Mission: Impossible III Lost Multiple Directors, Cast In Development
Today, Mission: Impossible seems too big to fail, but that wasn’t the case after Mission: Impossible II. The pre-production process for Mission: Impossible III certainly didn’t help, losing multiple directors and its initial supporting cast, the Hollywood Reporter detailed.
First up for Mission: Impossible III was David Fincher. From what Fincher said, his idea for the movie would’ve been “really violent.”
Next was Joe Carnahan, whose film Narc Cruise had executive produced. He got things along to where Kenneth Branagh was set to play the film’s villain, Carrie Anne Moss the love interest and Scarlett Johansson as Ethan Hunt’s IMF protege. However, Carnahan also reportedly left the film over creative differences.
This is where J.J. Abrams came in. However, because of commitments to Lost, production was delayed for about a year and Branagh, Moss and Johansson were released from the film.
Abrams saw Mission: Impossible III through, with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Monaghan and Keri Russell filling similar roles to what had been created.