In the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible series, Ethan Hunt and a new team race against time to track down Hendricks, a dangerous terrorist who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt by the team to stop him at the Kremlin ends in a disaster, with an explosion causing severe damage to the Kremlin and the IMF being implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to invoke Ghost Protocol, under which the IMF is disavowed, and will be offered no help or backup in any form. Undaunted, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks to Dubai, and from there to Mumbai, but several spectacular action sequences later, they might still be too late to stop a disaster
Trivia:Brad Bird's live-action directorial debut.
Anthony Mackie, Christopher Egan, Kevin Zegers, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy were considered to play Brandt.
Kristin Kreuk and Lauren German were considered to play Jane Carter.
Jacinda Barrett auditioned for a role and even revealed some information about the project's reboot direction.
Tom Cruise performed the sequence where Ethan Hunt scales the outside of the Burj Khalifa tower himself without the use of a stunt double. The Burj Khalifa tower is the tallest building in the world.
The Burj Khalifa Hotel mentioned in the movie is the Armani Hotel Dubai - the first hotel designed and developed by Giorgio Armani.
The Indian Palace Scene was shot in Zabeel Saray Palm Jumeirah (Dubai). The hotel was still under soft pre-opening during the shooting period, which took three days.
This is the first film to use the 100th Anniversary Paramount logo. Each movie in the MI series has used a different Paramount logo.
In its 425-theater opening weekend, it grossed $13 million, setting the record of the highest-grossing opening weekend in less than 600 theaters (previously held by Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason).
Ruben Fleischer and Edgar Wright (a friend of Simon Pegg) were also considered for directing duties. Wright backed out as he was in post-production of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Brad Bird was selected because of his work on The Incredibles, which also contains similar themes of espionage. Michael Giacchino, the film's composer also previously worked with Bird on that film and Ratatouille (2007).
Was originally targeted for a mid-May 2011 release, with J.J. Abrams to direct. However, pre-production delays and script rewrites delayed the film, while at the same time, Abrams was busy working on his Super 8 film, prompting him to back out from directing, but still remain on producing duties.
When Benji (Simon Pegg) was addressed by his call sign Pluto, he replies, "Isn't Pluto no longer a planet?". This is factually true. On 13 September 2006, the IAU (International Astronomers Union) declared Pluto a non-planet status as it fails one of the three conditions for a definition of a planet.
This is the first film in the series to be released in IMAX.
The code Ethan uses at the pay phone to get his latest mission is actor Tom Cruise's birthday, 07362.
The actor that hands Ethan the black mask to place over his head to meet the arms dealer appeared in the first Mission: Impossible movie, giving him the same style mask when he is being taken to meet Max, an arms dealer.
Jeremy Renner was offered the role of Jackson Lamb in Super 8 (eventually taken by Kyle Chandler) but took the role of Brandt when J.J Abrams told him that Tom Cruise and Brad Bird were interested with him. When accepting the role, Renner was only briefed on the film and character outline as there was no script at that point.
The IMF team makes extensive use of Apple products, such as the iPhone, the iPad and the MacBook Air. Producer J.J. Abrams is a vocal supporter of Apple products.
The high-tech car that 'Ethan Hunt' drives near the end of the film is the Vision Efficient Dynamics concept car. It is an actual prototype of the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid that will enter production in late 2013. The concept car is powered by a 1.5 liter three-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine and two electric motors.
The class ring Trevor Hanaway (Josh Holloway) uses to tranquilize the courier is a Jostens Magnum class ring with a sapphire stone.
The film made $693 million at the box office worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing installment in the franchise. It also surpassed War of the Worlds to become Tom Cruise's highest grossing film as of 2012.
Jeremy Renner does the signature jump-and-hang-in-air stunt that Tom Cruise did in Mission: Impossible.
In Dubai, Tom Cruise is wearing a pair of glasses seen briefly in the train when the team is arming up for the mission. The same glasses are worn while scaling the hotel and are in fact Oakley Split Jackets, modified of course. They have clear frames with a special wind gasket and elastic strap which you can get for the standard models. Unfortunately, the glasses featured in the movie are one of a kind and are not available to the public.
The cars visible in the moving-camera shot of valet parking in Mumbai are, in counterclockwise order from bottom left: Ferrari Enzo, Mercedes Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series, Bugatti Veyron 16.4, Ferrari F430, Aston Martin Vantage, Aston Martin DB9, BMW M6, and three white Rolls Royce Phantoms.
The first Mission: Impossible film not to be produced by Paula Wagner.
The indoor water fountains in the Indian Palace use special laminar flow nozzles to launch streams of water with no turbulence. Special valves are used to "cut" the water into discrete segments. Similar fountain technology is used in the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Las Vegas.
The windows removed from Burj Khalifa were carefully chipped away by two workers with hammers, working from a window washing platform outside the building.
Michael Giacchino is the first composer to score more than one movie of the series.
