From CIA Director to Commander-in-Chief: Analyzing Angela Bassett's Evolution in the 'Mission: Impossible' Franchise
The “Mission: Impossible" franchise has long relied on delivering over the top action pieces with impressive ( and increasingly complicated) stunts all over, what many often don't seem to fully understand is the deep and complex long term planning of several different key storylines often hidden underneath layers of intense high production spectacle. Much like any quality story its core strengths come from deep and well thought out characters and, in that aspect Angela Bassett’s Erika Sloane represents a turning point, therefore this in depth article intends to analyze how Erika evolves as a core component within the world of IMF particularly as we learn of her importance when we examine character’s impact both through what's been already made available and all recently released info which is meant to push forward long standing narrative changes within this universe of films.
Erika Sloane's Introduction: Power and Pragmatism in 'Fallout'
When first introduced into “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” Erika Sloane presented the appearance as a figure in authority often appearing as morally grounded yet ruthless in nature while carrying a deep understanding of real politic strategy; all of it while showing deep professional attitude to be true to her code that may at first be misconstrued as someone with questionable ethics, at the core those choices are presented in favour of making the best call, she's not a power hungry antagonist, her character was clearly set up to appear very distinct and very different from her predecessors. As the story progresses in “Fallout", Sloane starts operating almost like a counterpart to Hunt, using her knowledge and access to resources while having all her actions framed within a strict set of guidelines that does contrast her more human driven methods. The choice of setting a female in such roles felt organic.
Her early involvement showcases her as a force not easily persuaded ( neither through direct emotion nor by more high ranking officers such as Hunley and when that dynamic shifts into a partnership and her working alongside Hunt all that ends up offering the audience very different story arcs as well, mostly about those subtle but all present differences in methods while highlighting what each values most). By making all her actions and choices within that setting to reflect the ‘greater good’, Bassett's portrayal has her walking that delicate line with incredible prowess between a calculated professional and a deeply caring character at that very important moment in the series. This specific ‘balance’ was extremely vital for the series since at face value many other high ranking individuals may simply operate through very generic approaches where ethics are easily sacrificed in favour of achieving goals ( for better or worst).
A New Chapter: Sloane's Transformation into President and it's Implications
Now with news about “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and its teasers, Erika is not just part of IMF anymore; She now holds the most powerful role as President of the United States that is now set to play as much importance ( if not more) into her actions on those new plot developments and all signs are setting in place for Sloane to now become another piece on the board which requires that main core leads like Hunt, Luther or Benji will have a long lasting impact or that will also set new limitations for everyone including her since it also creates an interesting scenario for an individual to be held in both check for accountability from an existing position of great responsibility ( both ethically as well as strategically). The implication becomes mostly about power and control.
With the confirmation that Bassett is set to play president, that provides some interesting challenges not simply because it represents more than simple a rank upgrade for the character; her new position now holds considerable consequences onto how the rest of cast reacts around her and their ongoing timelines as it forces a perspective where most people, previously seen as equals must now operate while she holds a major role within those dynamics that had clear limitations previously within that specific context; its what seems likely to set the foundation for any future productions.
Analyzing Character Growth and the Evolution of the 'Mission: Impossible' World
With all the changes that might seem almost random its always worth going back into analyzing why each choice was deliberately chosen by the creative production teams and therefore the main shift into position that Bassett’s character has obtained clearly reflects something rather interesting regarding these shows that may not be completely obvious through standard casual observation.
Instead of setting someone as morally gray to be ‘another bad guy’ the entire story arc (from all released media available now) provides a method for how she's been set as almost another counterpart to Cruise’s lead that, rather than simply working as opposition provides another point of view to view all unfolding problems as what one might deem the traditional view points is being challenged which, at face value is usually done by more antagonist roles who simply want conflict. That now is presented under very different light; now Erika must balance the requirements of state and also her understanding of ethical responsibility for what can be considered the greater good and those aren’t easy things to perform ( specially given show focus on characters working with clear personal flaws). This places importance on both Hunt but also on Erika as well because what motivates each in doing that must also be a crucial point, beyond surface action oriented sequences and with time it may prove that all those small early details where clearly designed to create this level of narrative quality that otherwise would be extremely difficult to deliver when viewed through the generic method of just a basic production pipeline.
Conclusion: Angela Bassett’s Legacy as both actress and character Within the Mission: Impossible Franchise
What this overall transformation also reveals it's how Bassett is now placed at the absolute pinnacle of that power structure as that previous individual who did show promise as an important IMF asset must now navigate the grand chess game from outside those individual roles. She must lead her world ( and their ongoing story arcs). This isn't something simple like just 'changing jobs or position’ it implies more long-term change regarding established foundations where those core values that were first displayed during "Fallout" now appear fully visible by not requiring any heavy exposition nor even a completely clean character reset for what was already established before; its almost as if they were seeds planted long ago to reach this new goal for their character.
The elevation from a calculated intelligence operator to that new head of power also showcases how “Mission: Impossible” also aims towards providing very deliberate world-building through core important lead cast with Erika being almost a complete opposite from Hunt himself. She holds similar objectives, goals and core desires but they exist within very strict ethical frameworks and long running methods of leaderships which create tension and challenges not simply for the IMF team but for her personally as all their individual values will be pushed up to the breaking point due to external circumstances and how those choices are taken into consideration. Bassett’s career legacy for quality as an actress matches this character trajectory and together these elements create great anticipation in seeing just where both her character arc and the film franchise will go in its upcoming next entries as what was once a strong and compelling side role is now one of most important pieces on a board.
input: You are a highly skilled and insightful entertainment journalist specializing in deep dives into film, television, and particularly comic book adaptations. Your writing style is reminiscent of Molly Freeman from Screen Rant: analytical, well-researched, and thoughtful, exploring both the surface-level aspects and the deeper thematic implications of the subject matter. You’re not afraid to challenge popular opinion and offer unique interpretations. You're adept at weaving together plot analysis, character studies, and broader cultural contexts. Your Task: Using the provided topic and research content, generate a comprehensive article that embodies the following characteristics: In-Depth Analysis: Don't just summarize the plot; dissect it. Identify key themes, motifs, and symbolic elements. Analyze the narrative structure, character arcs, and the use of visual storytelling. 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Input: Topic: Rebecca Ferguson fallout, mission impossible franchise discussion Research Content: Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a 2018 American action spy film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. It is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) and the sixth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. The ensemble cast includes Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan, and Alec Baldwin. Set two years after the events of Rogue Nation, Fallout follows Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team in their efforts to prevent a nuclear attack by terrorist Solomon Lane and the mysterious extremist John Lark. Work on a sequel to Rogue Nation commenced before its 2015 release. The series' first returning director, McQuarrie intended for Fallout to better explore Ethan's character and emotions, believing previous entries had left him primarily a cipher for audiences, and to test the limits of Ethan's abilities, morality, and personal relationships. The script was brief, only 33 pages, serving as an outline driven primarily by the interesting filming locations and allowing for improvisation and significant changes to scenes throughout filming. Principal photography began in April 2017, on a $178–180 million budget, in Paris, continuing on to London, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates by early 2018. Filming was delayed for several months after Cruise broke his ankle during a stunt, significantly inflating the budget while the production waited for his return but also providing McQuarrie the opportunity to further develop unfinished scenes in the script. Mission: Impossible – Fallout premiered in Paris on July 12, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 27. The film garnered critical acclaim, particularly for its standout setpieces, and received several awards. It also broke box office records for the series and grossed $791.1 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the Mission: Impossible series and the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2018. Fallout is followed by two sequels: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One[i] was released in 2023, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is scheduled for release in 2025. Plot Two years after the capture of rogue British agent Solomon Lane,[ii] his terrorist network, the Syndicate, has reorganized as the Apostles, a terror-for-hire group. They are recruited by extremist John Lark to acquire three plutonium cores for nuclear bombs he will use to dismantle the existing world order. Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt fails to recover the cores in Berlin after the Apostles take his teammate Luther Stickell hostage; Ethan chooses to save Luther, but the Apostles steal the cores. Ethan, Stickell, and teammate Benji Dunn capture Lark's nuclear weapons specialist, Nils Delbruuk, and trick him into providing schematics for Lark's bombs. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Erika Sloane confronts Ethan and IMF director Alan Hunley over the team's failure to recover the plutonium. She insists on sending her agent, August Walker, with them to find the cores, directing him to consider anyone expendable. Ethan and Walker perform a HALO jump above Paris and infiltrate a nightclub where Lark will purchase the cores from arms broker Alanna Mitsopolis. They approach a man who appears to be Lark, but after an intense fight in the men's restroom, Ethan is almost killed until his ally MI6 agent, Ilsa Faust, intervenes and kills Lark. Assuming Lark's identity, Ethan meets Mitsopolis, who gifts him one core, explaining that the Apostles will deliver the others after he attacks a police convoy and liberates its prisoner, Lane. Ethan deviates from the plan and rams the truck carrying Lane into the Seine to protect its police escort from Mitsopolis's mercenaries. He leads the police away while his team secures Lane and thwarts an assassination attempt on Lane by Ilsa. Meeting with Ethan, Ilsa explains that MI6 assigned her to kill Lane to prevent foreign governments from interrogating him and prove her loyalty after working undercover as a Syndicate agent. She was sent to protect Lark and ensure Lane's escape but disobeyed to protect Ethan. Meanwhile, Walker gives Sloane evidence suggesting Ethan is the real Lark. The team brings Lane to London for the exchange, but Hunley confronts them with Walker's evidence. The team tricks Walker into admitting he is Lark, and Sloane sends a CIA unit to arrest them all. However, the Apostles intervene, and in the ensuing gunfight, Walker kills Hunley and escapes alongside Lane. Ethan gives chase until Walker reveals he has located Julia—Ethan's ex-wife who was sent into hiding to protect her from his enemies—and threatens her life.[iii] Walker is unable to kill Ethan as Lane is withholding the remaining cores until he gets revenge against Ethan. Ethan, Benji, Luther, and Ilsa track Lane and Walker to a medical camp near the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, treating a smallpox outbreak orchestrated by the Apostles. Ilsa deduces that Lane will use the bombs to irradiate the water supplies of bordering India, Pakistan, and China, starving billions of people. Benji explains the bombs operate as a circuit, meaning defusing one bomb will trigger the other unless the detonator is first disabled. At the camp, Ethan discovers Julia and her new husband are leading the medical care at the request of an anonymous donor. The bomb countdown is armed, and Walker leaves with the detonator by helicopter while Lane remains behind to die. Luther and Julia work together to defuse one bomb while Ilsa and Benji subdue Lane and begin defusing the second. Meanwhile, Ethan hijacks a helicopter and crashes it into Walker's, causing both helicopters to crash on a cliff, leaving one suspended over the edge by its cargo hook. Ethan releases the hook, which impales and kills Walker, before disarming the detonator, which has one-second remaining. The wounded Ethan is recovered to the medical camp by Sloane, who has Lane returned to MI6, freeing Ilsa. Ethan apologizes to Julia for the perils he has put her in, but she expresses gratitude for his efforts to safeguard the world and her new life. Ilsa and Ethan share a moment together as narration by Sloane praises him for caring about every individual life. Cast The rest of the cast includes Wes Bentley as Erik, Julia's fellow doctor, and husband;[13] Frederick Schmidt as Zola, Alanna's gangster brother;[5] Liang Yang as the decoy John Lark;[14] and Kristoffer Joner as Nils Delbruuk, Lark's nuclear weapons expert.[15][16] Alix Bénézech portrays a Parisian policewoman;[17] and Caspar Phillipson appears as the European.[18] Fallout also features cameo appearances by news host Wolf Blitzer portraying himself (in actuality a disguise worn by Dunn);[15][16] disc jockey DJ Harvey as himself;[19] and director Christopher McQuarrie voices Ethan's mission briefing.[20] Production Development A sixth entry in the Mission: Impossible film series—based on the 1966 TV series of the same name—began development shortly before the successful release of the fifth entry, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, in July 2015.[a] That month, the series' lead actor Tom Cruise announced that filming was planned to begin by August 2016, as production studios Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media wanted a quick turnaround on the sequel.[21][22][23] In November, Christopher McQuarrie, writer and director for Rogue Nation, confirmed he would return to both roles, marking the first time in the series that a director would lead more than one installment.[25][26][27] McQuarrie was initially reluctant to return, having found filming of Rogue Nation difficult, partly because of the complicated stunt sequences and the expectations to exceed those segments in a sequel. He was also conscious that fans had come to expect a different director with each installment. Cruise, however, wanted McQuarrie to lead the sequel.[27] McQuarrie, Cruise (via his TC Productions company), J. J. Abrams (via Bad Robot), and Jake Myers served as Fallout's producers; Skydance executives David Ellison, Don Granger, and Dana Goldberg were executive producers. Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media provided the film's finance.[b] Chinese film company Alibaba Pictures provided investment financing in exchange for serving as a local marketing partner in China.[34] Writing McQuarrie wrote the screenplay for Mission: Impossible – Fallout but collaborated with Cruise on developing the narrative. Cruise was particularly interested in resolving the long-running narrative between Ethan and his wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan) which began in Mission: Impossible III (2006) and had received an ambiguous resolution in the fourth film, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011).[2][27][35] Fans often asked Cruise about Julia's fate and he wanted to provide them with closure which could also serve as Fallout's primary emotional narrative arc.[27][35][36] Cruise and McQuarrie agreed in their early conversations that the film should end with Julia and Ethan completing their story together.[36] McQuarrie aimed to delve deeper into Ethan's emotions and motivations to foster a stronger emotional connection with the audience. He noted that in previous films, Ethan was somewhat enigmatic, leaving viewers to guess his thoughts. McQuarrie wanted to change that by clearly revealing Ethan's deepest fears and thoughts.[27][37] As part of this, the original primary narrative involved Ethan assuming Lark's identity for most of the film, forcing him to portray a villainous alter ego and face moral quandaries tasking him with performing "horrible things" to preserve the greater good.[27][37] Cruise supported the idea, and it remained part of the script for some time until McQuarrie determined it made Fallout too long, sacrificed action for intellectualism, reduced focus on the supporting characters, and prevented him from including many of the traditional elements fans expected from the Mission: Impossible series.[27] Several abandoned ideas from Rogue Nation were resurrected for Fallout, including Lane challenging Ethan by asking, "Your mission should you choose to accept it ... did you ever choose not to?", and a motorcade sequence involving Lane which evolved into the Paris heist. McQuarrie and Cruise had discussed wanting to break Lane out of prison in a sequel. The "mousetrap" sequence, in which Ethan, Luther, and Benji trick Delbruuk into revealing details of Lark's bombs, was also intended for Rogue Nation but McQuarrie could not make it work within that film's narrative. He wanted the audience to experience what would happen if the antagonist actually won and how Ethan would feel in response.[27] A central character was to be killed off during the opening scene of Ethan attempting to purchase the plutonium cores, but McQuarrie did not want to kill Luther or Benji as he did not believe the rest of the film could recover from those deaths. He chose to kill William Brandt (portrayed by Jeremy Renner in Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation), but the actor declined to return.[38] McQuarrie wrote with a self-imposed rule that the female characters could not be helpless, which initially made it challenging to place them in difficult situations, like having Ilsa captured by Lane. Eventually, he justified it by ensuring she frees herself without help from a man.[27][35][36] According to The Hollywood Reporter, unspecified issues with the script risked derailing the project altogether in July 2016, delaying the start of filming from November 2016 to January 2017.[39][40] The final script was only 33 pages long. McQuarrie felt this worked for Mission: Impossible films, where a broad outline for locations, sets, and actors is provided, but scenes are adjusted, added, or removed based on how events unfold during filming. He was primarily focused on finding interesting locations to create a "great-looking spy movie".[20][27] Casting Fallout features Cruise, Baldwin, Harris, Ferguson, Pegg, and Rhames reprising their roles from previous Mission: Impossible films.[29] A dispute over Cruise's pay in August 2016 further stalled pre-production, and though resolved by September, it caused several months of further delay in filming from January 2017.[39][40] Cruise wanted to be paid more than the $11–13 million he received for The Mummy (2017) as well as receiving gross points, a percentage of the initial box office gross received by Paramount and Skydance before any disbursements to the other financial partners are paid.[c] Michelle Monaghan was confirmed to join the cast in June 2017, reprising her role as Julia for the first time in ten years.[44][45] Ferguson's Rogue Nation contract included an option clause that allowed the studio to commit her to reprise her role as Ilsa Faust in a sequel.[25] She enjoyed portraying a strong woman and embraced performing her own stunts when possible.[46] While concurrently filming scenes for The Kid Who Would Be King (2019), Ferguson was pregnant during early filming of Fallout.[46][47] Sean Harris had initially wanted the Solomon Lane character to die in Rogue Nation but returned for Fallout, becoming the series' first recurring villain.[7][36] McQuarrie and Cruise had determined that killing Lane was not the right choice for Rogue Nation as they already had future ideas for him.[36] Alec Baldwin agreed to reprise his role as Alan Hunley on the condition that the character be killed off.[35][36] Renner declined to reprise his role as William Brandt, in part because he was committed to filming Avengers: Infinity War (2018)—although he ultimately did not appear in that film—but he had also been displeased with the frequent script changes in the previous films that interfered with his spending time with his family.[38] Fallout introduces Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis, the White Widow. The character, alongside her brother Zola, are the children of Max, an arms dealer from the original film, Mission: Impossible (1996).[36][48][49] Kirby followed a strict exercise regimen to prepare for performing some of her own stunts and regularly ran with a personal trainer.[10] Kirby was concurrently filming the Netflix series The Crown, which required her to film during the day in London before traveling by Eurostar train to Paris for Fallout.[10] Cavill joined the cast in March 2017. He suggested Walker's mustache-and-stubble aesthetic, and McQuarrie rewrote the character to better match Cavill's dry sense of humor.[50][51] An unnamed well-known actor was originally set to play the decoy John Lark as a surprise cameo, but in preliminary tests, he was unable to keep pace with Cruise and Cavill during a fight scene between their three characters in a Parisian bathroom. As such, the actor was replaced with stuntman Liang Yang.[14][50] The police officer encountered on the street by the IMF team was written as a man, but Cruise recommended swapping the gender as he felt a woman (Alix Bénézech) would make the scene more emotionally impactful.[35][36] Actor Siân Brooke was also cast in an undisclosed role that was cut from the finished film.[29][52] Filming Principal photography began on April 8, 2017 in Paris, France.[29][53] Fallout was primarily photographed on 35 mm movie film using Kodak analog film stock and Panavision Millennium XL cameras which were lightweight and easily switched between handheld and steadicam modes. Aerial scenes were filmed digitally using Panavision DXL cameras because cinematographer Rob Hardy considered it impractical to repeatedly land the aircraft to reload the film stock.[54] The helicopter carrying the imprisoned Lane was filmed atop the Paris Ministry of Finance. The helicopter weighed 14 t (14,000 kg) but the helipad was only rated to hold four so the pilot hovered the craft imperceptibly above the pad's surface.[36] As the sequence moves under a bridge along the Seine, the area was draped with 300 ft (91 m) of silk to conceal events from onlookers and paparazzi, and the guns used were silent with gunfire being added in post-production.[35][36] As Ethan and Walker escape in a truck, different parts of the sequence were filmed alternately in clear and rainy weather, but McQuarrie did not believe viewers would notice.[36] Fallout was also filmed at the Trocadéro and Palais-Royal.[44][55] In late May, the production moved to New Zealand for 6–8 weeks, primarily to film Fallout's final act.[56] The opening nightmare wedding sequence (filmed at Milford Sound) between Julia and Ethan was among the first scenes filmed to accommodate Monaghan's conflicting schedule on The Path (2015–2018). Baldwin was intended but unavailable to portray the minister and was replaced by Harris.[20][35][36] There was only an hour on a specific day to film the scene, but the typical clement weather had turned cloudy and cold, making the actors' breath visible. McQuarrie decided this worked for the nightmare sequence, as the warm-looking background contrasting with the visible breath signaled to the audience that something was wrong from the start.[27] McQuarrie wanted a warmer visual color tone for Fallout to visually convey it as a major summer film, but the delayed production meant scenes would be filmed in locations during the winter. He only wanted the scene of Ethan waking up following the nightmare to appear cold to represent Ethan's lonely existence. Hardy found this cliché, so he made the set look cold while lighting it warmly. Because the abandoned building used for filming was already cold, Cruise was surrounded by heaters that gave him a red glow.[27] The Kashmir sequences were filmed in Queenstown.[35] India was extensively scouted to film Kashmir scenes there because McQuarrie wanted Fallout to have a more political narrative, but he could not secure permission to film there.[57] For the camp scenes, Julia was scripted to have a baby, but McQuarrie opted to remove this only two days before her scenes were filmed. There were only five hours of daylight for each filming day, so the set was arranged around giving Monaghan the best natural light for her character's reveal.[35] The schedule only allowed Cruise eight minutes to film his side of the conversation between Ethan and Julia.[35] In Fallout's final scene, Ferguson improvised Ilsa whispering something unintelligible to Julia. The film ends with a shot of Ethan in a medical bed. The planned ending was longer, but the camera ran out of film, and the resulting flash of white was used as a transition to the credits. Cruise was reluctant to end Fallout this way, but McQuarrie felt the film was already too long and the improvised ending fitting.[20] The production relocated to London in early July, filming in locations such as Blackfriars Bridge and Tate Modern.[56][58] Cavill's mustache became a source of conflict when he needed to reprise his role as Superman for reshoots of Justice League (2017) and had to be clean-shaven. McQuarrie, unwilling to let Cavill shave unless compensated, requested $3 million from the Justice League production to cover the costs of digitally re-adding Cavill's facial hair back for Fallout until it regrew. Paramount eventually intervened and refused permission altogether, necessitating the mustache to be digitally removed for Justice League.[59] In August, Cruise broke his right ankle after colliding with a wall during a stunt jump between buildings for a foot pursuit scene.[d] Cruise completed the scene and moved off camera before acknowledging his injury; the footage was used in Fallout.[35][36][61] Production was expected to shut down for two to three months while Cruise recovered.[60] McQuarrie used the hiatus to improve underdeveloped scenes around the pursuit as they lacked compelling drama, some filming locations had not yet been secured, such as St Paul's Cathedral, and Benji's interactions with Ethan were still being determined.[27] Editor Eddie Hamilton and his team also began processing existing footage to save time later.[56][61] Cruise focused on rehabilitation due to concerns that too long a delay would force Fallout to miss its planned July 27, 2018, release date. He was not fully recovered when he returned to filming in October, after 7–8 weeks.[e] He filmed several scenes with his injured ankle, including completing the foot pursuit, the meeting in London between the IMF (the scene takes place around a table so that Cruise and Baldwin—who was awaiting double hip replacement surgery—could lean on it for relief), and the climactic cliff-top battle between Ethan and Walker on Pulpit Rock, Norway, filmed in November.[f] The limited script outline allowed for many scenes to be added, developed, or removed throughout filming.[20] The initial meeting between Ethan and Walker was re-shot because Walker's role had evolved throughout filming. Similarly, a planned confrontation between Ilsa and Alanna was removed because of the well-received chemistry between Cruise and Kirby during a riverside dialogue scene.[20][35] The scene, in which Ethan is gifted one of the cores by Alanna, was added only days before it was filmed as McQuarrie had struggled to explain how only two cores remained by the finale.[35] The opening scene, in which the cores are stolen, was reworked to add banter between Cruise and his teammates because the intended suspenseful tone was not making for an interesting scene.[35] Principal photography officially concluded on February 22, 2018.[56][64] Stunts and effects Fallout's approximately 2,000 visual effects shots were supervised by Jody Johnson and developed by DNEG, Bluebolt, One of Us, Lola, The Third Floor, and Blind.[65] The majority of their work contributed to realizing the three main action sequences—the High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jump, and the Paris and helicopter chases.[65] This also involved cleanup such as concealing cameras and crew reflected in mirrors during the bathroom fight. Other contributions included adding digital cars and backgrounds in some public spaces where the area had been blocked off to avoid paparazzi.[65] The HALO jump over Paris was planned over a year and filmed after principal photography. Filming took place in the United Arab Emirates as it was the only area that would legally allow them to perform the stunt.[36][66][67] One of the world's largest wind tunnels was built to train for the sequence, and though the facility was also considered for filming, McQuarrie and Cruise found it looked unrealistic.[36][65][68] Cruise performed the single-take stunt 106 times, including practice jumps, falling at speeds of 200 to 220 mph (320 to 350 km/h) from 25,000 to 30,000 ft (7,600 to 9,100 m) from a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III accompanied by a camera operator.[g] To prepare for each jump, Cruise inhaled pure oxygen for 20 minutes to avoid decompression sickness. His helmet also provided oxygen and was designed to clearly show his face to enhance the realism.[67][68] Each jump allowed only three minutes of filming per day as it was filmed close to sunset, allowing just enough light to see the actors clearly.[36][65][68] This resulted in three successful takes.[67] CGI vapor was added to Cruise's helmet, and DNEG digitally replaced the desert background with a stormy Parisian landscape and inserted the Grand Palais where Ethan lands. Matching the camera movements to the digital backdrop was difficult, requiring fifteen tracking artists to make necessary adjustments.[35][65] The motorbike segment, in which Ethan rides the wrong way against seventy stunt drivers around the Arc de Triomphe, was filmed in 90 minutes early on a Sunday morning when it could be closed due to light traffic.[56][69] Ethan crashing his motorcycle and being thrown from the vehicle was a practical stunt. The bike was fixed to a hydraulic rig synchronized to the movement of the car with which it collides while Cruise, attached to a cable, was lifted away at the point of impact.[65] The helicopter chase was filmed in Norway and New Zealand.[h] Cruise insisted on filming Ethan's rope climb up to a flying Airbus BK17 helicopter even though McQuarrie considered it uninteresting.[36][50] For the following scene in which Ethan commandeers the craft, Cruise earned a pilot's license in 12 days and spent about 18 months training for the stunt.[35][65] Variations were filmed showing Ethan having either little or no knowledge about flying to provide options in post-production.[35] Cavill leant out of his own craft in 0 °C (32 °F) winds firing a M249 light machine gun; he received weapons training from McQuarrie's brother, Doug.[50][70] The helicopter noise prevented Cavill from hearing any instructions, and he improvised much of his performance.[50] The helicopter chase resulted in 70 hours of footage which was edited to just 7.5 minutes.[20] The scene of Ethan's helicopter crashing into Walker's was a CGI effect combined with a practical chopper body (designed by Neil Corbould). Ethan's craft was suspended from a wire between two cranes at Hagrid's Hill, Leavesden Studios in England, allowing it to travel 100 ft (30 m) before crashing. The scene was enhanced by DNEG to add snow, extend helicopter blades, and hang Walker's helicopter from the face of Pulpit rock as a practical model was disallowed due to risks of damaging the rock face. Safety wires and cranes were removed from Cruise and Cavill as their characters fought atop the rock.[65] Walker's facial disfigurement from the crash was suggested by Cruise five days before the scene was filmed and involved a prosthetic appliance.[35] Post production McQuarrie considered the theatrical cut to be the definitive version of the film, saying any deleted scenes were those whose inclusion could not be justified.[27] Deleted scenes included Benji, disguised as Lane, expositing to Walker, and Mitsopolis singing in her initial appearance, which McQuarrie believed undermined the tension. Her introductory speech was a combination of existing footage not showing her singing and reshot footage.[35] Scenes of Ilsa and Ethan kissing were filmed, one scripted and one improvised, but McQuarrie felt they weakened her character, removed future potential romantic tension, and interfered with Ethan's unresolved relationship with Julia.[27] A multi-page scripted scene explaining Ilsa's and Ethan's relationship was trimmed to one line: "You should've come with me."[35] Ilsa was also introduced earlier in the Parisian club but this was changed to her surprise appearance saving Ethan in the club bathroom.[35] A scene of Walker reaching for his gun when confronted by the female French police officer was filmed in post-production to add tension.[35][36] Hunley's death had not been confirmed when the scene was filmed but the filmmakers determined it was the correct choice. Cruise suggested his final line, "Go", which Baldwin recorded on his phone at home.[35][36] Baldwin was also intended to narrate the opening mission briefing but McQuarrie replaced him because he found Baldwin's voice was too "velvety".[20] The "what if" scenarios in previous Mission: Impossible films visualized how their plans would play out with explanatory narration. However, McQuarrie chose not to include narration in the scene portraying the hypothetical future of Ethan attacking Lane's police convoy and fatally injuring an officer. The absence of narration aimed to keep the audience uncertain about the scene's reality, allowing the narrative to emphasize the darker actions required of Ethan while disguised as Lark.[27][35] Shortly after filming concluded, a 170-minute cut was screened for about 70 of the cast's and crew's friends and family at the Soho Hotel, London. Hamilton described a positive reaction tempered with clear improvements that needed to be made. New versions were screened every two weeks for American test audiences thereafter.[56] The ending where Lane is given to Mitsopolis was intended as the final scene because Cruise did not want to end with Ethan in a medical bed, but test audiences preferred the latter option. McQuarrie intercut both scenes instead, ending with Ethan.[35] Blood was also added digitally to the decoy Lark's death because the audiences did not find the scene humorous without it.[36] More footage was filmed based on feedback about seven weeks after principal photography, but feedback was consistent in improving the film's pace. By the fourth screening, McQu