Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol tried to lure screen legend Gene Hackman out of retirement for a prominent cameo – here’s why it didn’t happen. Gene Hackman is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, but he decided to retire from the business during the early 2000s. His last acting credit was 2004 comedy Welcome To Mooseport, and while various filmmakers have tried to tempt him back over the years, Gene Hackman is happily retired and it’s doubtful he will ever make an acting comeback.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was arguably one of the most important entries in that series. This fourth entry was coming off the back of the disappointing performance of Mission: Impossible III and Paramount were pushing to transition Tom Cruise from leading the franchise to taking more of a supporting role, while Jeremy Renner was set to become the new lead. During filming, it became clear that Cruise was still very much the star of the series, and the sequel became a huge success that set that template for subsequent entries.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

In order for Renner’s character to succeed Cruise’s Ethan Hunt’s in the franchise, the latter was to become the new IMF secretary by the end of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Early in the story, actor Tom Wilkinson portrayed this role, where he appears to brief Ethan on his new mission before he’s shot and killed by Russian agents pursuing Hunt. The IMF secretary sequence is short but key to the story, but when the movie was being conceived, the filmmakers had Gene Hackman in the mind for the role.

See also  All Hobbs & Shaw After-Credits Scenes Explained: What They Mean For Fast & Furious

This planned cameo came to light during an episode of the Light The Fuse podcast, during an interview with Ghost Protocol associate producer Ben Rosenblatt. He revealed that the filmmakers behind the sequel were so set on luring The Royal Tenenbaums’ Gene Hackman out of retirement to cameo as the IMF secretary that pre-vis of the sequence even featured the actor’s likeness. The role itself feels structured to be a surprise cameo, as it’s only one scene and filmed entirely within a comfortable limo.

Gene Hackman’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol cameo – had it happened – also would have reunited him with Tom Cruise, following 1993’s The Firm. Sadly, Hackman passed for the same reason he’s turned down similiar offers – he’s very much retired from business. While some fans of the actor may have felt this scene a more fitting end to Gene Hackman’s distinguished career than Welcome To Mooseport, he has more than earned the right to close his film career on his own terms. While Ethan Hunt didn’t become the new IMF secretary at the close of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – which featured Cruise’s Burj Khalifa stunt – maybe the franchise will revisit this concept when Tom Cruise is ready to scale back on the physical demands of the role.

Star Wars: One Palpatine Quote Perfectly Explains The Fall Of The Jedi

About The Author


Padraig Cotter
(3484 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

See also  Mortal Kombat: What Scorpion Looks Like Under His Mask (Every Version)

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

More From Padraig Cotter