Our first good look at the new Mission: Impossible is a greatest hits album.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is approaching faster than Tom Cruise can run. No longer saddled with the clunky title Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, the eighth film in the series is clearly aiming to be to biggest, baddest, most bombastic boy on the block this year. And the trailer wants to remind us exactly how big, bad, and bombastic the series has been since the first instalment all the way back in 1996. Check it out:
Almost 30 years of memories right there. Cruise was 33 when the first Mission: Impossible was released. He’ll be 62 when The Final Reckoning premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14. The word is that this will be his final outing as relentless superspy Ethan Hunt, but take that with a pinch of salt. Director and co-writer (with Erik Jendresen) Christopher McQuarrie has already said vague plans for future instalments are already afoot. Besides, they already made noises about handing the franchise over to Jeremy Renner, and that didn’t work out. Poor Jezza – they stiffed him on the Bourne films, too.
Renner will not be returning for this outing, but almost everyone else is. Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Rolf Saxon, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Mariela Garriga, Mark Gatiss and Indira Varma are all reprising their prior roles, with former Marsellus Wallace Rhames being the only actor to crop up in every film in the series so far. Also not returning is Rebecca Ferguson, her character Ilsa Faust having been ignominiously bumped off in the last film. Seems like a misstep to us, frankly.
New to the franchise this time out are Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, and Janet McTeer. It’s a bit weird seeing Offerman as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after he was the President in Civil War, though.
The Final Reckoning is, of course, a direct sequel to 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. As is ever the case, plot details are thin on the ground. The official synopsis – “Our lives are the sum of our choices. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” barely counts as a paragraph. But it’s safe to say we’ll see the Cruiser continue his dogged pursuit of Esai Morales’ villainous terrorist, Gabriel. Masks will be worn. Stunts will be, uh, stunted. And there’ll be running. Oh, so much running.
At a reported budget of somewhere north of $400m, making it one of the most expensive movies of all time, we’re sure Paramount are getting plenty of bang for their buck. And Australian audiences will too, when Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits cinemas on May 17, 2025. Until then, here’s the official poster to tide you over:
…and the presser made a point of stating you should give Tom a follow on Insta for more exclusive content.
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