Mission: Impossible is an 1996 action thriller directed by Brian De Palma and stars Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. The plot follows Hunt's (Tom Cruise) mission to uncover the mole within the CIA who has framed him for the murders of his entire IMF team. Work on the script had begun early with late filmmaker Sydney Pollack on board, before De Palma, Steven Zaillian, David Koepp, and Robert Towne were brought in. In fact, the film went into pre-production without a shooting script. De Palma came up with some action sequences, but neither Koepp nor Towne were satisfied with the story that leads up to these events.

U2 band members Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton produced their own version of the original theme song. The song went into top ten charts around the world and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The movie was the third highest grossing of the year. It is the first movie based on the television series of the same name and was followed by two sequels, Mission: Impossible II (2000) and Mission: Impossible III (2006).