Mission: Impossible 7 director sets record straight over controversial destruction of 111-year-old bridge
Mission: Impossible 7 director Christopher McQuarrie has set the record straight over inaccuracies in the reports that they're planning to blow up a bridge in Poland for the upcoming Tom Cruise film.
Last week it was reported that McQuarrie and Cruise had plans to use an 111-year-old bridge in the village of Pilchowice in Poland in an action set-piece in the upcoming Mission: Impossible film, which is set to resume filming in September.
But while Poland's deputy culture minister Pawel Lewandowski seemed to be on board with the idea, it was also reported that there were those in Poland who were against it and wanted to list the bridge as a monument in a bid to protect it from destruction.
In response to the reports, the film's director has issued a lengthy statement to Empire to set the record straight on the situation and to offer the complete context around the story.
And, as McQuarrie himself says: "It's a pretty good story (with a twist)."
The director began by addressing the reports, saying that there were "a lot of inaccurate stories" being published and he felt it was important to clear up the misrepresentation, stressing: "There was never a plan to blow up a 111-year-old protected monument."
He continued to note that Mission: Impossible is known as a franchise that prefers not to use digital effects wherever possible, and said that after they came up with a rough concept for a scene in M:I7 involving a body of water and a bridge that could potentially be destroyed.
"While we doubted such a thing would be possible, a broad search was initiated in the unlikely event that any country anywhere in the world might have a bridge that needed getting rid of," he added.
"Some lovely people from Poland responded with enthusiasm."
According to McQuarrie, they were made aware of a non-functioning railroad bridge that had been deemed structurally unsound in an area that was eager to promote tourism and needed to revitalise an old rail system to bring more tourists to the area.
Related: Mission: Impossible 7 set photos tease Tom Cruise's motorbike stunt
It was understood that the production could only destroy the unsafe portions of the bridge that needed to be rebuilt and McQuarrie added that they also planned to "offset any damage" that the demolition might cause.
However, the director then added that "not everyone was happy" with this agreement, and said that one individual set out to misrepresent the film's intentions and sought to get the "unsafe and unusable bridge" landmarked after the production team decided they weren't "adequately qualified" for a job on the movie.
"In short, this individual manipulated the emotional response of the people in a move that has now compromised our ambitions to bring our production to Poland," McQuarrie added.
"We would never under any circumstances dream of intentionally causing harm to the cultural or historical landmarks we visit, and take great pains to protect those landmarks we feature.
"To respect and celebrate the places we film is our prime directive. No one involved in the production asked for permission to destroy a historically significant landmark in Poland. In all sincerity, our only agenda is to tell an engaging story as authentically as we can and hopefully entertain the hell out of you.
"We still very much hope we can come to Poland, work with the good people there, and help in any way we can the local environment and economy," he continued.
"Of course, we're also happy to get rid of any condemned bridges that might be lying around. Waste not, want not, after all."
The director concluded by adding that he only shared this detailed statement because he wanted to "set the record straight".
"If you've read this far, I deeply appreciate you taking the time to consider our side of things, and am truly thankful to any and all who gave us the benefit of the doubt," he concluded.
Mission: Impossible 7 currently has a release date of November 19, 2021, with an eighth movie pencilled in for 2022.
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