Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One currently leads at the box office. The film, which debuted last Friday, had a lot of exciting moments that thrilled audiences. One of them was a train sequence that saw Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and his protégé jumping from carriage to carriage while it dangled precariously over a devastated bridge.
If you’ve played Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the award-winning action-adventure title from Naughty Dog, you certainly would’ve thought that Mission: Impossible 7 scene looked familiar, and you would’ve been right too. Uncharted 2 has a similar sequence that involved the protagonist, Nathan Drake, barely hanging off a train carriage as it spilled its content over a cliff. The similarity is glaring so much so that Bruce Straley, the co-director of Uncharted 2, acknowledged it.
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…the sincerest form of flattery! 😉 pic.twitter.com/qwVrLWqj2A
— Bruce Straley (@bruce_straley) July 15, 2023
On Twitter, he wrote, “…the sincerest form of flattery!
His words reference that popular quote by the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde that goes, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” With these words, Straley more or less stated that he believes Uncharted 2 influenced that Mission: Impossible 7 scene.
However, Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote and direct the Mission: Impossible film, has denied any connection between his film and Uncharted 2.
Post by @christophermcquarrieView on Threads
A fan, @thawhid asked McQuarrie if he played or was influenced by Uncharted 2 for the train scene. In response, McQuarrie stated, “Not remotely. I honestly know very little about that world.”
Ironically, McQuarrie’s denial came on Threads, the social media platform that has itself been accused of being an imitator.
McQuarrie further explained that he isn’t familiar with the games. When someone suggested he should give Uncharted a chance, claiming he’d love it, he said, “I used the word [Uncharted] in the literal sense in a post years ago and have been hearing that ever since. Games are just something I know nothing about.”
Dead Reckoning Part One debuted in theaters last week and has quickly proven to be popular with audiences and critics. For one, the film has a 96% critics’ approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has grossed over $260 million in just about a week.
A direct sequel, titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, is currently slated for release on June 28, 2024. But, we might have to wait longer than that because of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that have ground movie production.
Dead Reckoning Part Two was initially supposed to be the end of the franchise, putting an end to almost two decades of Cruise’s portrayal as the character. If Cruise has his way, though, he will continue to lead the franchise for at least two more decades.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is currently showing in theaters around the world.
