A Digitally De-Aged Tom Cruise In ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ Was Rejected For Being Distracting

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny begins with a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford in one of the most flawless uses of the (potentially terrifying) technology yet. Another summer blockbuster also considered kicking off with a technology-assisted younger version of its star — until Tom Cruise got distracted looking at himself.

“Originally, there had been a whole sequence at the beginning of the movie that was going to take place in 1989,” Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie told Total Film. “We talked about it as a cold open. We talked about it as flashbacks in the movie. We looked at de-aging.” But while doing research, he found himself thinking “this de-aging is really good” or “this de-aging is not so good” instead of “following the story.”

Cruise added, “I was so distracted by an actor that I had known for however long was now suddenly this young person.” McQuarrie believes he eventually “cracked the code – I think – on how best to approach it,” but “by then, we had kind of moved away from it. We may still play with it. We never say never.”

Will Jerry Maguire-era Tom Cruise snowboard off Mount Everest in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two Stay tuned!