Sophia Michaels
For well over a quarter-century, the Mission: Impossible franchise has served as a vehicle for some of the most iconic movie moments and unforgettable Tom Cruise stunts, which seem to only get more ridiculous with each new movie. With the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One right around the corner on the 2023 movie calendar, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt looks to be in the final stretch of his story. But before that happens, we’ll first have to see how the story unfolds in Mission: Impossible 8, which until recently was called Dead Reckoning Part 2.
We don’t know a whole lot about the specifics of the eighth Mission: Impossible movie when it comes its story (remember, we still have another film coming out before it), but there’s a lot we already know about its release date, cast, and what to expect when it comes to the stunts that will surely leave us with dropped-jaws for years to come.
What Is The Mission: Impossible 8 Release Date?
Unless there are major changes to its release plan, Mission: Impossible 8 will open in theaters on May 23, 2025, a little less than two years after its predecessor, according to Variety.
We shouldn’t, however, overlook the fact that the franchise’s next chapter has already had multiple release dates come and go over the years due to delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the domino effect it had on the entertainment industry. It was previously set to open on August 5, 2022, November 4, 2022, and July 7, 2023, and June 28, 2024.
The Cast Is Once Again Led By Tom Cruise, But There Are New Additions
Much like the past few movies in the franchise, the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning cast will see the return of the likes of Cruise, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, and other mainstays, but that’s not to say it won’t add some new characters into the mix.
First, there’s Mindhunter alum Holt McCallany, who will take on the role of Secretary of Defense Bernstein in the upcoming eighth Mission: Impossible movie, as reported by Deadline back in July 2022. A couple of weeks after that news was reported, director Christopher McQuarrie took to Twitter (via Empire) to reveal that Nick Offerman and Janet McTeer had joined the ever-growing ensemble cast.
Then, in March 2023, Deadline reported that Hannah Waddingham, the Emmy-winning star of Ted Lasso, would be joining the cast in an undisclosed role. We can expect to hear more about these characters, and other additions to the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning cast in the coming months.
Christopher McQuarrie Has Teased Mission: Impossible 8’s Stunts As Being ‘Outrageous’
From the start, the Mission: Impossible franchise has been one that continues to up the ante when it comes to its stakes and stunts, and it seems like the eighth installment will be no different. When speaking with Empire in June 2023, Christopher McQuarrie hyped the movie as well as one of its stunts, which he described as being “outrageous:”
Tom and I are always trying to get the big shit out of the way first. South Africa was intense. The aerial sequence is… [pause] It’s just outrageous. The thing to remember as you’re watching this monster [a.k.a. Part One] is that another monster waits behind it.
McQuarrie stopped short of revealing what the action sequence entails, but going off what we’ve seen from the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (as well as the earlier movies), this is going to be nuts.
Mission: Impossible 8 Will Be A Send-Off For Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt
At this time, we don’t know much about the Mission: Impossible 8 plot or specifics about its story, but the movie, like its predecessor, is being considered the final piece of the franchise’s story. Back in February 2022, Variety reported that the plan was for the final two movies in the franchise to serve as a send-off for Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character, and the franchise as a whole.
Obviously, the thought of the two-parter being the end of the popular spy-action franchise puts a lot of pressure on the production, and especially Cruise and McQuarrie, as they will need to stick the landing of a flight that has been nearly 30-years in the making by the time it is released. In May 2023, though, when speaking with EW, McQuarrie said that “plans always change,” though he didn’t say if there would be a ninth installment.
The Movie Was Originally Supposed To Be Filmed Back-To-Back With Dead Reckoning Part One
There was once a plan for both parts of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning to be shot back-to-back, which would have probably been the ideal situation for all involved parties. As we have come to know over the years, plans change, and for a number of reasons, be it problems brought on by a pandemic or the increasingly busy schedules of its stars. Both of those factors seem to have resulted in Paramount Pictures adjusting the production schedule for the seventh and eighth installments in the franchise.
In February 2021, Deadline reported that the initial plans to shoot both movies back-to-back were put on ice by Paramount due to the shifting release calendar. At the time of the report, Cruise was supposed to start gearing up for what was going to be the July 2021 theatrical rollout of Top Gun: Maverick, which ultimately didn’t take off until May 2022.
Production Has Been Impacted By The WGA Strike
The 2023 WGA writers strike, as well as the ongoing SAG strike brought productions of movies and TV shows to a standstill in recent months, including Mission: Impossible. According to Empire Magazine (via Slash Film), the strike has “stopped McQuarrie in his tracks” in that it has brought yet another delay to the movie that has hit more setbacks than release dates since production first began.
6 Mission: Impossible Missions Ranked On How Impossible They Really Were
During his chat with the publication, McQuarrie compared the various setbacks to tsunamis, saying that “we live in a state of 24-hour tsunami awareness.”
Only time will tell what will happen with Ethan Hunt’s story in Mission: Impossible 8, but regardless of what happens, it’s safe to say it’s definitely going to be one of the biggest 2024 movies. While we wait for more information, now would be a good time to go back and watch the Mission: Impossible movies streaming.
