Film news: Will the latest Mission: Impossible be Tom Cruise’s last?
Paramount recently unveiled the trailer for the Tom Cruise action vehicle, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.
The film is due in North American theatres on May 23, 2025, and in UK cinemas two days earlier.
Film News Blitz’s David Bason ponders whether this will be Cruise’s final mission as Ethan Hunt.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
The eighth instalment in the Mission franchise was originally billed as Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2.
However, an underwhelming box office return for 2023’s Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning has prompted Paramount to pivot to drum up more interest in the next instalment.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning grossed $570.6 million worldwide with an alleged production budget of $219 million not accounting for marketing costs.
As a result, a 2024 release was pushed back a year and a name change was warranted.
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Reports suggest that the follow ups budget could be one of the biggest in Hollywood history, close to $400 million thanks to production delays caused by industry strikes in 2023.
So, Paramount is billing this as Cruise’s final bow as Ethan Hunt, despite the superstar actor previously committing to the role long-term.
The trailer, filled with stunning action set pieces, biplane acrobatics and a whole lot of running (naturally), also points to the high stakes and sense that this is Hunt’s last mission.
“I need you to trust me, one last time,” Cruise’s character utters in the two-minute montage.
“Everything you were, everything you’ve done has come to this,” says Henry Czerny’s Kittridge.
Cruise wants to make Mission: Impossible films for the next 20 years
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald in 2023, a then 61-year-old Cruise took inspiration from the enduring star of the Indiana Jones franchise.
“Harrison Ford is a legend,” Cruise said.
“I hope to still be going. I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him.
“I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I’m his age.”
So, is Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning going to be Cruise’s final chance to play Hunt, or is this all a red herring to goad audiences into cinemas?
The answer will come in May, 2025, when Cruise shares the screen with returning cast mates Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg.
Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff return from the previous film and other franchise returnees include Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby.
Also joining in on the action will be newcomers Hannah Waddingham and Nick Offerman.
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