Mission Impossible (film series)

Mission: Impossible
Blu-ray box set of the five films
Directed by	Brian De Palma (1) John Woo (2) J. J. Abrams (3) Brad Bird (4) Christopher McQuarrie (5–6)
Produced by	Tom Cruise (1–6) Paula Wagner (1–3) J. J. Abrams (4–6) Bryan Burk (4–6) David Ellison (5–6)
Screenplay by	David Koepp (1) Robert Towne (1–2) Alex Kurtzman (3) Roberto Orci (3) J. J. Abrams (3) André Nemec (4) Josh Appelbaum (4) Christopher McQuarrie (5–6)
Story by	David Koepp (1) Steven Zaillian (1) Ronald D. Moore (2) Brannon Braga (2) Christopher McQuarrie (5) Drew Pearce (5)
Based on	Mission: Impossible by Bruce Geller
Starring	Tom Cruise (1–present) Ving Rhames (1–present) Simon Pegg (3–present) (See below)
Music by	Danny Elfman (1) Hans Zimmer (2) Michael Giacchino (3–4) Joe Kraemer (5–6)
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum (1) Jeffrey L. Kimball (2) Dan Mindel (3) Robert Elswit (4–5) Rob Hardy (6)
Edited by	Paul Hirsch (1, 4) Steven Kemper (2) Christian Wagner (2) Maryann Brandon (3) Mary Jo Markey (3) Eddie Hamilton (5–6)
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	1996 – present
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$650 million
Box office	$2.770 billion

Mission: Impossible is a series of action spy thriller films based on the television series of the same name, produced by and starring Tom Cruise as Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt.

Beginning in 1996, the films follow the missions of the IMF's main field team under the leadership of Hunt, who is forced to take over after the team is betrayed from within in the first film. As such, the series focuses on Hunt as the lead character as opposed to the ensemble cast structure of the television series, although some characters, such as Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) have recurring roles in the films.

The series is the 18th-highest-grossing film series of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $2 billion to date. A sixth film is currently filming, set to be released in 2018.

Ethan Hunt is framed for the murder of his fellow IMF agents during a Prague Embassy mission gone wrong and wrongly accused of selling government secrets to a mysterious international criminal known only as "Max". The action spy film was directed by Brian De Palma, and was produced by and starred Tom Cruise. Work on the script had begun early with filmmaker Sydney Pollack on board, before De Palma, Steven Zaillian, David Koepp, and Robert Towne were brought in. Mission: Impossible went into pre-production without a shooting script. De Palma came up with some action sequences, but Koepp and Towne were dissatisfied with the story that led up to those events. U2 band members Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton produced an electronic dance version of the original theme song. The song went into top ten of music charts around the world, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The film was the third-highest-grossing of the year and received positive reviews from film critics.