Mission: Impossible 1996

Mission: Impossible is a 1996 American spy thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, and produced by and starring Tom Cruise from a screenplay by David Koepp and Robert Towne and story by Koepp and Steven Zaillian. Based on the 1966 television series of the same name and its 1988 sequel series, it is the first installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. It also stars Jon Voight, Henry Czerny, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas and Vanessa Redgrave. In the film, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) seeks to uncover who framed him for the murders of most of his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team. Numerous efforts by Paramount Pictures to create a film adaptation of the television series stalled until Cruise founded Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1992 and decided on Mission: Impossible as its inaugural project. Development initially began with filmmaker Sydney Pollack, but most of the final screenplay was completed after De Palma, Zaillian, Koepp and Towne were hired; De Palma also designed most of the action sequences, while Cruise did most of his own stunts.