Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation with guest host Stef Z! Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a 2015 American action spy film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. It is the fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible series and was preceded by Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011). It stars Tom Cruise, who reprises his role as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt. It is produced by Cruise, J. J. Abrams, and David Ellison of Skydance Productions. In the film, Hunt is on the run from the U.S. government as he tries to prove the existence of the Syndicate, an international criminal consortium. Filming began on August 21, 2014, in Vienna, Austria, and concluded on March 12, 2015. The film was released in North America by Paramount Pictures on July 31, 2015 to critical and commercial success. In its opening weekend, it took in $55.5 million at the U.S. box office and over $120 million worldwide.