Casting Tom Cruise in the lead, the Mission: Impossible franchise is arguably one of the best action-filled spy series to date. The (currently) eight-part franchise sees Ethan Hunt, the formidable spy of Mission Impossible Force (IMF), along with his trusted team getting involved in highly sensitive international missions to save the world from deadly threats and catastrophes. Naturally, as an outing putting Cruise in the center stage, the franchise has to have high-octane stunts, car chases, dogfights, and drama. And rightly so, these films are some of the most expensive to be produced in recent times.
Currently, there are six released Mission: Impossible movies, with Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) being the last entry. That said, this year will see the seventh iteration in the series, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, hitting the screens on July 14, while the eighth entry Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2, will make its way into the theaters next year. Till that happens, here is the list of every MI movie ranked by how expensive they were to make.
7 Mission: Impossible — $80 Million
Released in 1996, Mission: Impossible marked the beginning of the stories of the fabled American spy Ethan Hunt. As the first installment in the franchise, this movie was to decide whether Hunt’s story would be told in multiple parts or just as a standalone, so it made perfect sense that the studio decided to keep the expenses limited for the film. Indeed, Mission: Impossible had a meager budget of $80 million when compared with other movies. Despite lesser expenditure, the film did wonders at the box office and went on to gross $457.7 million. Honestly, if that’s not impressive, then what is?
6 Mission: Impossible II — $125 Million
The second entry in the franchise, Mission: Impossible II was, no doubt, an even better rendition of the fan-favorite action character, Ethan Hunt. The film brimmed with some of the most iconic stunts that were a treat to watch for any action-lover. From the infamous knife to the eye sequence to jumping from the cliff, everything in the movie felt like a visual effect. But it was indeed a very pragmatic stunt performed by Cruise.
That said, naturally, with such precise stunts that demanded higher professional guidance along with featuring expensive filming locations, the budget shot higher than the previous film. Undeniably, M:I II was made with $125 million, the first film in the series to enter the $100 million-club in terms of budget.
5 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol — $145 Million
With every passing movie, Cruise has been elevating the standards and dangerousness of his stunts. Even more, the studio has been chequing the best possible cast in the industry for the films. And that is why, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Ghost Protocol was billed at $145 million. But, in this case, the burning of the cash didn’t really go in vain, as the film became the big-budget entertainment movie that soared as the second-highest box office grosser in the franchise, amassing approximately $694 million. Truly, those are some impressive numbers.
4 Mission: Impossible Ⅲ — $150 Million
The third iteration was sadly the least revenue-generating movie in the M: I franchise. It grossed close to $400 million. Though, without a doubt, the collection of the film was way north of the breakeven point. Paramount Pictures spent $150 million on the filming of Mission: Impossible â…¢, and given the box-office collections and critical acclaim the movie received, the expense now seems quite worth it.
3 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation — $150 Million
Rogue Nation, too, was billed at $150 million. But unlike M:I â…¢, the fifth iteration was a commercial hit. It grossed almost $700 million, which is again an impressive sum. The film cast some of the leading names in the industry like Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, and Rebecca Ferguson. Also, as a staple Tom Cruise film, Rogue Nation boasted some of the impressive stunts, like the time when Ethan hung midair from a plane and when he engaged in an action-packed motorcycle chase.
2 Mission: Impossible – Fallout — $178 Million
Starring Henry Cavill in the prime antagonist role alongside Cruise, Fallout is, so far, the most commercially successful film in the franchise. The film, undeniably, collected a whopping sum of $790 million. Of course, Fallout was also an expensive Paramount production. The film was billed at $178 million, which, frankly, is quite pricey for any action film of the generation. Nonetheless, it was still an economical bet for the production house when compared with what was spent on Dead Reckoning Part 1.
1 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 — $290 Million
Dead Reckoning Part 1, which is scheduled to hit theaters in July, will be the most recent and most expensive addition in the Mission: Impossible saga. The film is already garnering buzz worldwide for its over-the-top stunt delivery by Cruise and his team and, of course, the extravagant cinematography. In fact, the upcoming iteration will also see some new cast members like Pom Klementieff and Hayley Atwell joining forces with Cruise. Naturally, with so much to offer to the audience, Dead Reckoning Part 1‘s budget skyrocketed to a whopping $290 million, making it one of the most expensive films to be ever made in cinematic history.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
