The sixth installment of the action thriller Mission: Impossible is currently showing in cinemas. The first episode about agent Ethan Hunt was filmed almost 30 years ago to the great interest of the domestic public and media, as one of the key destinations was the Czech metropolis Prague. However, it did not end well, as an incident occurred during the production of the film, which marked the reputation of Czech film abroad for several years.
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Shooting Mission: Impossible in Prague: One of the biggest embarrassments of film shooting in the Czech Republic | Video: Aktuálně.cz
The protagonist and producer of the film Mission: Impossible Tom Cruise did not want to pass off Prague as another city or use it for historical monuments like other filmmakers. His intention was for the film to take place in contemporary Prague. He came to the Czech Republic with his team in 1995, and even attended a benefit premiere before filming Interview with a vampire (1994) at the Blaník Cinema. He donated 250,000 crowns from the proceeds of the film to the Motol hospital and its children’s hematology and oncology department.
But when the actual shooting was to take place, problems began. The staff had scouted the surroundings of the Charles Bridge and the Liechtenstein Palace, the exteriors of which were supposed to represent the American embassy. The government office originally offered filmmakers space for 80,000 crowns per day of filming. But when the then minister without portfolio, Igor Němec, who headed the Government Office, found out about it, he allegedly changed the amount to 580,000 per day.
“At one point we were told that if we didn’t sign the papers by 4 p.m., we wouldn’t get the location. We were under the impression that they had gone from communism to rampant capitalism without any mitigation,” said the film’s publicist Katherine Orloff in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine after filming. .
The Americans were shocked by the Czech action. When Cruise returned to Hollywood, he gave several interviews to the media, where he described the situation very colorfully. “Prague ripped us off. I have a message for filmmakers who are thinking about filming in beautiful Prague: Don’t bother,” said the actor, for example.
Barrandov wanted to pay 2.5 million for the filmmaker
Director Václav Marhoul, who ran the Barrandov Film Studio in the 1990s, also commented on the whole case later. “Cruise de facto called the entire Czech Republic a complete ‘moron’. That there is always communism here and you can’t make films here,” Marhoul described, adding that he even offered the Government Office that Barrand’s difference of 2.5 million crowns would be paid up, but let the filmmakers mainly pays the original amount. The office did not agree to this.
At the time, even President Václav Havel defended the filmmakers, who said in a radio interview that government officials did not understand the concept of indirect profit. That is, that Prague would gain the advantage of potential additional filming and greater tourist attendance. He was of the opinion that the palace should have been given to the staff completely free of charge. However, the then Prime Minister Václav Klaus had the opposite opinion. According to him, objects such as the Liechtenstein Palace should not be rented out at all.
Minister Němec also objected to the criticism at the time. He stated that they charged the filmmakers 580,000 straight away and that this is the regular rental price according to the tariff. But it suspiciously changed just before the arrival of the filmmakers. But the officials’ decision to “skin Americans” had consequences for several years to come.
Years later, Cruise forgave Prague
Barrand’s studios, for example, felt the decline in demand from foreign filmmakers. Back in 1995, Barrandov received 25 million dollars from foreign productions, a year later it was only a fraction of this amount. The affair surrounding Mission: Impossible also affected the production companies that provided service to foreign filmmakers. According to the BusinessWeek magazine, the Czech Republic was considered in connection with the filming of the American musical Evita (1996). Because of the case surrounding Cruise, the filmmakers decided to use Budapest, Hungary instead.
But time eventually healed old wounds. Even Cruise himself forgave the Czech Republic, the actor and producer returned to Prague in 2010, when he filmed the fourth Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. But the capital of the Czech Republic no longer represented itself, but Moscow. The American staff may have indirectly taken revenge on Prague for the events of 1995 – they turned Prague Castle into the Russian Kremlin.
Prague Castle as an exploding Kremlin. Do you recognize the president’s residence in the famous scene?
Prague in Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol replaced the Kremlin | Video: Youtube/Movieclips
2023-07-19 05:00:38
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