Which Mission: Impossible film was J. J. Abrams's feature directorial debut?

Mission: Impossible III was J. J. Abrams’s feature directorial debut.

Before making the film, Abrams was best known as a television writer, producer and director. His work on series such as Felicity and Alias, followed by his role on Lost, helped persuade Tom Cruise and the production team that he could handle the franchise’s combination of character drama, espionage and large-scale action.

Abrams joined the project after earlier directors David Fincher and Joe Carnahan departed during development. Production was delayed while Abrams fulfilled television commitments, but he ultimately made Mission: Impossible III as his first theatrical feature as director. The film was released in 2006 and starred Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames and Michelle Monaghan.

A common mix-up is the score: Mission: Impossible III was composed by Michael Giacchino, not Abrams. Giacchino’s work followed Danny Elfman’s score for the 1996 original and Hans Zimmer’s music for Mission: Impossible 2. Abrams later directed Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, but the third Mission film was his first feature directing credit.