- Eighth – and possibly last – instalment coming May 2025
- One of the most expensive films ever made
- Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham joins cast
Perhaps hinting at the conclusion of the blockbuster franchise, the eighth installment is called Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. It is the direct sequel to 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and directed by longtime MI collaborator Christopher McQuarrie.
Paramount Pictures dropped the first teaser trailer for the new film, in which Ethan Hunt says “I need you to trust me, one last time”.
Another thirty-second teaser arrived during a commercial break in the Super Bowl, showcasing some death-defying stunts involving planes.
The official trailer landed on 7 April, as below, featuring nostalgic cuts from across the thirty-year franchise:
It certainly feels like it could mark the end, but reports suggest that Tom Cruise doesn’t want to bid farewell to the Mission franchise just yet. In fact, Cruise hopes to continue playing Ethan Jones until he’s Harrison Ford’s age.
Seaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Cruise said “Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope to be still going. I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him. I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I’m his age.”
With Cruise, 62, clearly not ready for a pipe and slippers yet, let’s take a closer look at his latest Mission Impossible outing.
When is Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning released?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go to the theater on 23 May, 2025 to watch Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
It comes 29 years after the release of the original Mission: Impossible (1996), making it one of the longest running film franchises of all time.
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It is also the 17th highest grossing film franchise in history, earning over $4.09 billion worldwide. 2018’s Fallout is currently the highest grossing entry of the Mission: Impossible films.
Who’s in it?
The star-studded ensemble of actors returning include Tom Cruise, of course, as Ethan Hunt, Hayley Atwell as Grace, Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, and Simon Pegg also returns as Benji Dunn.
Vanessa Kirby returns as Alanna Mitsopolis aka The White Widow and Esai Morales reprises his role as the ruthless villain, Gabriel.
Pom Klementieff returns as Paris and Henry Czerny makes his return as Eugene Kittridge, who re-appeared in The Dead Reckoning as the Director of the CIA after a 27-year absence from the franchise.
Newcomers to the cast include Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, though there’s no details on her role yet. Katy’O Brian, Janet McTeer, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Tramell Tillman and Stephen Oyoung have also been cast in undisclosed roles.
An intriguing addition is Rolf Saxon, who reprises his role as William Donloe from the very first Mission: Impossible film. Saxon’s character was last seen being transferred to Alaska as punishment.
What’s the plot for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning?
It remains to be seen if this is the end of Ethan Hunt, but if it is, he will surely go out on a bang.
The budget for The Final Reckoning is estimated to have hit around $400 million, making it one of the most expensive films ever made.
It’s also worth noting too that the film was initially called Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, but later renamed The Final Reckoning.
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We do know that the film will be picking up from where it left off in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and that the two films were filmed back to back.
We are left with Ethan secretly taking the key to The Entity from Gabriel during their fight on top of a train.
Major plot details are still under wraps, but reports suggest that Ethan’s mission will be to now destroy the rogue AI, whilst many other nations are trying to recover and potentially weaponize it.
The AI’s intelligence is housed inside a sunken next-generation Russian submarine called the Sevastopol.
Does Tom Cruise do his own stunts in this one?
He may be 62, but he can still dangle from a biplane, as briefly shown in the teaser trailer from the new film.
Of course he does his own stunts. He prides himself on being a daredevil stuntman. Let’s not forget he hung off the side of an Airbus A400 travelling at 160mph, dangled from a cliff face 2,000 feet above ground without a safety net and climbed up the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
Over time, he’s suffered from broken ribs, torn shoulders and a broken ankle yet remains committed to giving his absolutely everything to cinema.
The official Instagram page of Mission Impossible shared a video of Cruise preparing for an underwater stunt. The caption reads, “Suiting up for the impossible #MissionImpossible – The Final Reckoning”.
Cruise reflected on how intense the biplane stunt was in an interview with Empire.
“When you stick your face out, going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen,” he explained. “So I had to train myself how to breathe. There were times I would pass out physically; I was unable to get back into the cockpit.”
“There are stunts in this movie that will melt your brain,” added writer-director Christopher McQuarrie. “There would be a day in Africa – any day in Africa – where Tom would go out and do something that topped anything he had ever done before.”
