Christopher McQuarrie

2.1. Birth and upbringing

Christopher McQuarrie was born on October 25, 1968, in Princeton, New Jersey. He grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, a nearby unincorporated community. After graduating from high school, he spent time in Australia, working as an assistant at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth, Western Australia. He later recalled that he was offered an "Interim program" and "picked a place out of a hat," ending up at Christ Church Grammar School where he lived and worked at the boarding school, though he admitted to doing "very little work."

2.2. Education and early career

McQuarrie graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in 1986. Among his high school classmates were director Bryan Singer, actor Ethan Hawke, and musician James Murphy. After being dismissed from Christ Church Grammar School after nine months, he hitchhiked across Western Australia for three months. Upon returning to the United States, he spent about a month "knocking around" before beginning a four-year stint at a detective agency in New Jersey. He described this role as "actually a glorified security-guard position," noting that he conducted only about six investigations during his entire tenure. He was considering joining the New York City Police Department in 1992 when he was invited by Bryan Singer to write the screenplay for Public Access.

3.1. Entry into the film industry

McQuarrie's first feature film was the 1993 thriller Public Access, which was directed by his high school friend, Bryan Singer. The film received critical acclaim, winning the Critics Award at the Deauville American Film Festival and sharing the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize. Despite its festival success, Public Access was not released theatrically in the United States, though it holds an approval rating of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes.

3.2. Screenwriting

McQuarrie's screenwriting work gained significant recognition with The Usual Suspects (1995), for which he received numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. He also won the Edgar Award and awards from Premiere Magazine, the Texas Board of Review, and the Chicago Critics. The Usual Suspects was later included on The New York Times's list of the 1000 greatest films ever made, and the character Verbal Kint was recognized on AFI's list of the 100 greatest Heroes and Villains of all time. In 2006, the Writers Guild of America voted The Usual Suspects as #35 on their list of 101 Greatest Screenplays.

He co-wrote Valkyrie (2008) with Nathan Alexander, a film based on the real-life 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. For this screenplay, they consulted members of the Stauffenberg family, a book by surviving conspirator Fabian von Schlabrendorff, and Hitler's surviving bodyguard. In 2010, McQuarrie co-wrote The Tourist with Julian Fellowes, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. This film, starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, grossed 278.00 M USD worldwide and received three Golden Globe Award nominations, as well as the Redbox Movie Award for the most rented drama of 2011. He also co-wrote Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014), the latter based on the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill. His screenwriting contributions also include Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015), The Mummy (2017), Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018), Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), and the upcoming Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025). Top Gun: Maverick received Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

3.3. Directing

McQuarrie made his directorial debut with The Way of the Gun (2000), a modern-day Western for which he also wrote the script. The film, starring Benicio del Toro, Ryan Phillippe, Taye Diggs, and James Caan, was budgeted at 8.50 M USD and grossed 13.20 M USD worldwide. It received mixed reviews.

His second feature as director was Jack Reacher (2012), an adaptation of One Shot, the ninth novel in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. Filming took place in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area from October 2011 to January 2012, and the movie was released by Paramount Pictures in December 2012.

In 2015, McQuarrie directed his third feature, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, the fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. He also co-wrote the film with Drew Pearce. It garnered strong reviews and grossed over 195.00 M USD at the North American box office, earning a Golden Tomato for Best Action-Adventure Movie of 2015. He continued his work on the franchise, returning to write and direct the sixth film, Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018). This film was released on July 27, 2018, received strong critical reviews, and became the franchise's highest-grossing title, with over 791.00 M USD worldwide.

McQuarrie finalized a deal in January 2019 to write and direct two more Mission: Impossible films back-to-back, initially hesitant to return to the franchise. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was released on July 12, 2023, and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is scheduled for release on May 23, 2025.

3.4. Producing

Beyond his writing and directing roles, McQuarrie has also taken on significant responsibilities as a film producer. He co-produced Valkyrie (2008), a historical thriller he also co-wrote. He served as a producer for Top Gun: Maverick (2022), a highly successful film for which he also co-wrote the screenplay. He also produced Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) and The Mummy (2017). In television, McQuarrie was the creator and executive producer for the 2010 NBC television series Persons Unknown (13 episodes), and an executive producer for 8 episodes of the 2022 series Reacher.

3.5. Key Collaborations

McQuarrie has forged significant professional relationships throughout his career, most notably with director Bryan Singer and actor Tom Cruise.

His collaboration with **Bryan Singer** began with McQuarrie's first feature film, Public Access (1993), which Singer directed. Their partnership continued with The Usual Suspects (1995), a critical and commercial success that earned McQuarrie an Academy Award. McQuarrie also performed extensive uncredited rewrites on Singer's X-Men (2000), though he ultimately removed his name from the project. They reunited for Valkyrie (2008), which McQuarrie co-wrote and co-produced, and Singer directed. Their fourth collaboration was on Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), which McQuarrie co-wrote.

McQuarrie is a frequent collaborator with actor **Tom Cruise**, working together on numerous action and thriller films. Their joint projects include:

• Valkyrie (2008), which McQuarrie co-wrote and co-produced, and Cruise starred in.
• Jack Reacher (2012), which McQuarrie wrote and directed, and Cruise starred in.
• Edge of Tomorrow (2014), which McQuarrie co-wrote, and Cruise starred in.
• Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015), which McQuarrie co-wrote and directed, with Cruise in the lead role. This marked their third directing collaboration.
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016), which McQuarrie produced, and Cruise starred in.
• The Mummy (2017), which McQuarrie co-wrote and produced, and Cruise starred in.
• Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018), which McQuarrie wrote and directed, and Cruise starred in.
• Top Gun: Maverick (2022), which McQuarrie co-wrote and produced, and Cruise starred in.
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), which McQuarrie wrote and directed, and Cruise starred in.
• The upcoming Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025), which McQuarrie is writing and directing, and Cruise will star in.

3.6. Uncredited work

Christopher McQuarrie has contributed to several films and television projects without receiving official credit for his work. His uncredited screenwriting contributions include:

• Batman & Robin (1997)
• Apt Pupil (1998), co-written with Brandon Boyce
• X-Men (2000), for which he performed extensive rewrites before removing his name from the project.
• Ghost Ship (2002)
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), where he provided uncredited rewrites during production.
• World War Z (2013), where he stepped in to rewrite the script after other writers departed.
• The Wolverine (2013), for which he was hired to pen the script.
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), where he spent two weeks "tightening up the story."
• American Made (2017)

He also contributed to the story for the 1994 television series NYPD Blue in the episode "The Final Adjustment."

4.1. Film

Christopher McQuarrie's film work as a director, writer, and producer is listed below.

4.2. Television

Christopher McQuarrie's contributions to television series and films are listed below.