Atwell told The Guardian newspaper that improvisation by the cast was encouraged on the Mission: Impossible set – she came up with the idea of her character Grace being a pickpocket, which was incorporated into the script. Audiences of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One saw Cruise plunge over a cliff on his bike and Atwell explained:

The Final Reckoning suggests that Tom Cruise may be saying farewell to his IMF days, so what better time to reflect on the franchise's past? Let's take a trip back in time and recall a Cruise injury that he kept working through in the name of entertainment.