Cannes Rendez-Vous with Christopher McQuarrie and special guest Tom Cruise - 05.14.25

In the first Rendez-Vous event of the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival, Christopher McQuarrie was joined by special guest Tom Cruise to discuss Mission: Impossible - Final Reckoning, filmmaking, and the future of cinema. McQuarrie started the Rendez-Vous solo, speaking on his journey from directing grittier films to his current work on the Mission: Impossible movies, and spoke on his relationship with Cruise: “When I met him, I was going to quit the business,” said the Mission: Impossible filmmaker. “What I know about working with him for so long, Tom is always a student. He’s eager to learn from the people around him,” he added. The other plus is that Cruise likes to empower the visions of those around him." Cruise then joined the talk, and the two spoke about the new Mission: Impossible movie, with both McQuarrie and Cruise giving each other constant praise for their hard work and dedication, respectively. Towards the end of the Rendez-Vous, Cruise gave some advice to the future filmmakers of the world: “I always tell actors: spend time in the editing room, produce a movie, study old movies, recognize what the composition is giving you, know what those lenses are, understand the lighting and how to use it for your benefit,” Cruise added. “Understand the art form to that degree. Brando absolutely understood lighting; all the greats did.” The talk ended with a final powerful quote from McQuarrie about the future of filmmaking and cinema: " If you want to save the concept of cinema: protect it, ressurect it." 

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, which was released in 2023. In the film, Tom Cruise, who plays Ethan Hunt, the franchise’s iconic character, must fight a new, and particularly formidable, enemy: an AI called “The Entity”. This latest installment may stir up certain emotions for the audience. In fact, the title (“The Final Reckoning”), as well as the trailer, which recounts a series of flashbacks and memories from previous installments, suggest that it could signal Hunt’s final mission. The eight films of the spy saga have been marked by spectacular stunts performed by Tom Cruise, the game of masks, intrigue set in the heart of major capital cities around the world, and much more. Its sobering synopsis is summed up as follows: “Our lives are the sum of our choices.”