Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning: All About the Eighth Spy Film in the Action- Packed Franchise (and Whether It Will Be the Last)

Mar. 15, 2025

Tom Cruise in ‘Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning’ (2025).Photo:Paramount Pictures©

Paramount Pictures©

Tom Cruiseis bringing death-defying stunts to the big screen once again.

The latest installment in theMission: Impossiblefranchise,Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, is set to premiere in theaters on May 23, and will see Cruise return as field agent Ethan Hunt. Other familiar faces from the series, includingVing Rhames(Luther Stickell) andSimon Pegg(Benji Dunn), will also reprise their roles.

The Final Reckoning, the eighthMission: Impossiblemovie, will pick up where the 2023 filmMission: Impossible — Dead Reckoningleft off. Hunt and his team are still in the midst of a potentially catastrophic fight against a rogue artificial intelligence machine dubbed “the Entity.”

ThoughThe Final Reckoningwill conclude the events set up in the last film, directorChristopher McQuarrieis careful to say whether or not this will bethe finalMission: Impossiblemovie.

“It is, I hope, the satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc,” he toldEmpirein February 2025. “I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate.”

Here’s everything to know aboutMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningand if it will be the last film in the decades-long series.

How didMission: Impossible — Dead Reckoningleave off?

Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson in ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One’ (2023).Paramount Pictures©

The seventhMission: Impossiblefilm left viewers on quite the cliffhanger. InDead Reckoning, Ethan and the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) are tasked with taking down both the Entity and Gabriel (Esai Morales), an assassin determined to take control of the machine. The film ends in Venice, Italy, where Gabriel kills former MI6 agent turned ally Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who had been a part of the franchise since the 2015 filmMission: Impossible — Rogue Nation.

Naturally, Ethan vows to avenge her death and stop Gabriel and the Entity once and for all.

What isMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningabout?

Tom Cruise in ‘Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning’ (2025).Paramount Pictures©

The upcomingMission: Impossiblemovie will leave off whereDead Reckoningended, with Ethan and the IMF working to stop Gabriel and the Entity before it’s too late. Few details have been released about what’s at stake, but according tothe trailer, “the fate of every living soul” is at risk.

“What really needs to happen in the story is the stakes have to be real, they can’t be implied,” McQuarrie toldEntertainment Weeklyin 2023 when asked about Faust’s death inDead Reckoning. “We have to have the courage to let [Ethan] fail and it has to cost, the mission has to cost, and without that, the villain simply will not have a threat … what you’re seeing in the escalation of the story is what it costs Ethan personally in Venice.”

Which cast members are returning forMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning?

Cast members attend the Premiere of “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One” on June 19, 2023 in Rome, Italy.Stefania M. D’Alessandro/Getty

Stefania M. D’Alessandro/Getty

Deadlineannounced in November 2024 that fan-favoriteAngela Bassett, who played CIA Director Erika Sloane in the 2018 filmMission: Impossible – Fallout, will also return forThe Final Reckoning.

Which new cast members are joiningMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning?

Nick Offerman at the Premiere of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” on April 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA ; Hannah Waddingham attends The Music of Dusty Springfield show on November 26, 2024 in London ; Tramell Tillman attends the Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 04, 2023 in Santa Monica, CA.Kevin Winter/Getty ; Mike Marsland/WireImage ; Frazer Harrison/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty ; Mike Marsland/WireImage ; Frazer Harrison/Getty

There are a few new faces joining theMission: Impossiblefranchise.Hannah Waddingham(Ted Lasso),Nick Offerman(Parks and Recreation),Tramell Tillman(Severance), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Janet McTeer (Ozark) and Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding) have all been cast in the eighth film perEntertainment Weekly. However, the details of their roles have been kept under wraps.

What has Tom Cruise said about returning toMission: Impossible?

Tom Cruise attends the “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One” New York Premiere on July 10, 2023 in New York City.Theo Wargo/Getty

Theo Wargo/Getty

Dangerous stunts are a hallmark of theMission: Impossiblemovies andThe Final Reckoningis no exception. Cruise toldEmpirein February 2025 that one scene — which involves him barely hanging on to the wing of a 1930s Boeing Stearman biplane as it flies 10,000 feet in the air over South Africa — was so intense that he passed out while attempting it.

“When you stick your face out, going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen,” Cruise 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.”

WillMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningbe the last?

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in a scene from the film ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996).Murray Close/Getty

Murray Close/Getty

With a word like “final” in the title, fans have debated whether or notThe Final Reckoningwill conclude theMission: Impossiblefranchise which started in 1996. Neither Cruise nor McQuarrie have confirmed that this film will be the last and instead just urge people to see the movie.

“It’s a hard thing for me to discuss at the moment, because it really is something that you have to experience," Cruise toldEmpirein February 2025. TheTop Gunactor also describedThe Final Reckoningas “an epic, emotional journey of the entire franchise.”

Where wasMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningfilmed?

Tom Cruise behind the scenes filming for ‘Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning’ (2025).Tom Cruise/ Instagram

Tom Cruise/ Instagram

The eighthMission: Impossiblemovie was filmed primarily in the U.K. with other locations including Malta, Norway and South Africa, perScreen Global Production. In 2022, production in England’s Lake District was interrupted when a massiveflock of sheepwalked across the set, perFox News.

Is there a trailer forMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning?

Yes, a trailer forMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningwas released in November 2024.

“Our lives are the sum of our choices,” Cruise wrote onInstagramas he debuted the trailer on Nov. 11. “Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. See you at the movies May 23, 2025.”

When willMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningbe released?

Mission: Impossible— The Final Reckoningwill be released in theaters on May 23, 2025.

source: people.com