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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

2023, Action/Adventure, 2h 43m

What to know

Critics Consensus

With world-threatening stakes and epic set pieces to match that massive title, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One proves this is still a franchise you should choose to accept. Read critic reviews

Audience Says

With a terrific cast and some beautifully shot stunts, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One might be the best action movie of the year. Read audience reviews

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Mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one videos, mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one   photos.

In Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission -- not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Rating: PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Violence|Action|Some Language|Suggestive Material)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery & thriller

Original Language: English

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Producer: Tom Cruise , Christopher McQuarrie , Leifur B. Dagfinnsson

Writer: Christopher McQuarrie , Erik Jendresen

Release Date (Theaters): Jul 12, 2023  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Oct 10, 2023

Box Office (Gross USA): $172.0M

Runtime: 2h 43m

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Production Co: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, Tom Cruise

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio: Digital 2.39:1

View the collection: Mission: Impossible

Cast & Crew

Hayley Atwell

Ving Rhames

Luther Stickell

Rebecca Ferguson

Vanessa Kirby

The White Widow

Esai Morales

Pom Klementieff

Mariela Garriga

Henry Czerny

Shea Whigham

Jasper Briggs

Greg Tarzan Davis

Charles Parnell

Frederick Schmidt

Mark Gatiss

Indira Varma

Rob Delaney

Christopher McQuarrie

Screenwriter

Erik Jendresen

Leifur B. Dagfinnsson

David Ellison

Executive Producer

Dana Goldberg

Don Granger

Tommy Gormley

Chris Brock

Susan E. Novick

Fraser Taggart

Cinematographer

Eddie Hamilton

Film Editing

Lorne Balfe

Original Music

Gary Freeman

Production Design

Marco Furbatto

Art Director

Anthony Caron-Delion

Gavin Fitch

Sandro Piccarozzi

Set Decoration

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‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ Review: A Stunt-Loving Tom Cruise Takes On AI … and Big-Screen CG Rivals

Combining breaking-news intrigue with ever-crazier practical set-pieces, Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie keep this almost-three-decade franchise feeling cutting-edge.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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Sooner or later, Ethan Hunt will face a mission he really ought not to accept. But for the time being, he remains the one man on Earth willing to attempt the impossible without questioning the motives of those who require his services. That’s the deal with America’s most dutiful Boy Scout, Tom Cruise , who’s carried the billion-dollar “Mission: Impossible” franchise across 27 years without losing steam. Compare that with Indiana Jones, who’s failed to connect with a younger generation, or the “Fast and Furious” movies, which aren’t running out of gas so much as guzzling the laughing sort.

The villain this time around isn’t a person but an all-powerful artificial-intelligence whatsit known as the Entity, which fools a super-advanced Russian submarine into destroying itself in the film’s clever pre-credits sequence. In the moments just before the ship explodes (mere days after the Titan met a similar fate), the camera zeroes in on an unattended computer monitor, where something resembling a giant digital eyeball appears on the screen. Not red like HAL-9000, but more of an ominous blue orb staring out from a flow of “Matrix”-style digital code. It’s a serviceable solution to a tricky quandary: How to anthropomorphize something so abstract as rogue AI? In the decades since “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the general public has developed real concerns about such technology. Whereas Arthur C. Clarke was dealing in speculative fiction, “Dead Reckoning” now seems incredibly timely.

While Cruise’s Hunt is busy being the movie’s action figure, he’s supported by tech agents Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), who give him pointers via headset. “Dead Reckoning” also brings back sharpshooter Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and arms dealer the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), lining up a neat little ensemble of friends and associates that the AI can target and/or manipulate. The idea here is that the Entity’s mile-a-minute computation skills have concluded that the only thing that stands in its way is Hunt. And what is Hunt’s weak spot? Loyalty to his friends. As Hunt tells a gifted recruit known only as Grace (Hayley Atwell), “Your life will always matter more than my own.”

That’s just a flat-out lousy tactical philosophy, but it’s the kind of stubborn thinking that Cruise embodies so well: a blunt instrument traveling at extremely high velocity, guided by instinct and that inner ethical barometer. Even though we’ve just met Grace — who’s a pickpocket for hire, and not much of a team player — Hunt has decided she’s worth protecting. Heck, she could even be Impossible Mission Force material. So, when the Entity forces Hunt to choose which of his amigas to save, Ilsa or Grace, the guy all but short-circuits. In theory, that’s how you beat a virtual brain: You give it an impossible problem to solve (à la the tic-tac-toe game in “War Games”). For the moment, the Entity seems to be playing chess, not Risk, as “Dead Reckoning” has yet to show what renegade AI is capable of. Told that one of these women must die, Hunt does his darnedest to save them both. As usual, he’s got face masks in his arsenal, while the Entity has a nifty trick for pretending to be various people — a reminder that you can never trust your eyes or ears in an “M:I” movie.

Since Hunt can’t really deal with the Entity directly, the movie concocts a handful of human henchpeople to do its bidding (and punching, driving, etc.). To that end, Esai Morales plays a guy named Gabriel who’s been retconned into Hunt’s backstory, which supposedly makes this a more personal mission than those that came before — although the effect is no different than if he’d been invented for this movie. Gabriel takes orders from the Entity, while right-hand woman Paris (Pom Klementieff, who played Mantis in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies) proves the more threatening adversary. She first appears in Rome, where an elaborate car chase shot on location expertly balances thrills and laughter, the latter courtesy of a puny Fiat 500 and a pair of handcuffs.

With just one film left in the series, “Dead Reckoning” starts to tie up loose ends, which means none of the canonical characters is safe — not even Hunt. Combine that with the Entity’s strategy of targeting his friends, and the movie succeeds in humanizing the stakes. At the core, this is still just an elaborate game of hot potato, as everyone chases the two-part key that went down with the Russian sub, and which keeps changing hands over the movie’s 163-minute running time. The action builds to the film’s best set-piece, as Hunt finds a novel way to board a speeding train — and an even more unconventional way to disembark once it starts sliding off a bridge, one car at a time. This outing may be one-half of a two-part finale, but it gives audiences enough closure to stand on its own, and every reason to expect the last installment will be a corker.

Reviewed at Paramount Theatre, Los Angeles, May 27, 2023. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 163 MIN.

• Production: A Paramount Pictures release of a Paramount Pictures, Skydance presentation of a Tom Cruise production. Producers: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie. Executive producers: David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Tommy Gormley, Chris Brock, Susan E. Novick.
• Crew: Director: Christopher McQuarrie. Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen, based on the television series created by Bruce Geller. Camera: Fraser Taggart. Editor: Eddie Hamilton. Music: Lorne Balfe.
• With: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Frederick Schmidt, Cary Elwes, Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma, Rob Delaney

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Official Final Trailer

Check out the final trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, the movie starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Frederick Schmidt, Cary Elwes, Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma, and Rob Delaney.

In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most. The film is produced by Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Tommy Gormley, Chris Brock, and Susan E. Novick serve as executive producers. It is written by Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen. Based on the television series created by Bruce Geller.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, opens in US theaters on July 12, 2023 and in UK cinemas on July 10, 2023.

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Screen Rant

Mission: impossible 9 teased by tom cruise, could continue into the 2040s.

While praising Harrison Ford's longevity in the industry, Tom Cruise suggests that Mission: Impossible 8 won't be his last as Ethan Hunt.

Despite rumors, Tom Cruise suggests that Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two won't be his last, effectively teasing Mission: Impossible 9 as he praised Harrison Ford's longevity in the business. The veteran actor reprises his iconic role as Indiana Jones in James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny . This supposedly marks Ford's final outing as Indy, and his peers are in awe at what he's able to do in his career, including Cruise.

Speaking with SMH , Cruise praises his industry predecessor, calling him a " legend " and citing what he has done throughout the decades as Ford bids goodbye to Indy. Ahead of the release of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One , Cruise also floats the idea its sequel won't be his final outing as Ethan Hunt. Read his full quote below:

“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.”

Why It Will Be Difficult To Continue Mission: Impossible Without Tom Cruise

After the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny , the summer 2023 blockbuster season will continue with Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One . The film will see Cruise as Hunt in the seventh installment in the famed spy franchise. Beyond that, the actor is already confirmed to return in the sequel, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two , which is slated to release next year.

Considering the title of the next two Mission: Impossible films, there have been rumblings that Dead Reckoning Part Two will function as the final installment in the franchise. Unlike Cruise's Top Gun series, it's more difficult to move the universe forward without Hunt at the center of its storytelling. From the get-go, Hunt has been the universe's anchor, and there hasn't been a clear indication that Paramount is setting up a successor who can take over the franchise if he decides to retire the role.

Related: 9 Biggest Top Gun 3 Theories That Put Maverick Back In The Danger Zone

Aside from being the face of the franchise, Cruise is also integral in making the Mission: Impossible movies' signature stunt work. The actor has been vocal about not wanting to subject other actors to the same training and risks that he go through to play Hunt. Given how widely successful the franchise is, it's welcome news Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two won't be Cruise's final outing as the famed spy, with Mission: Impossible 9 becoming a possibility

Source: SMH

Key Release Dates

Mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one, mission: impossible - dead reckoning part two.

Mission: Impossible 9? Tom Cruise Just Made A Comment About Harrison Ford That Makes It Seem Possible

It ain't the years kid, it's the mileage of your franchise.

Taking his career to literal new heights when making some of the best action movies, there are very few that can keep up with the energy Tom Cruise shows with each new adventure. As Mission: Impossible 7 is set to help push those chops even further while some ponder the future of the franchise, a comment Cruise made about Harrison Ford’s career as an action star seems to have set Mission: Impossible 9 firmly in the star's sights. 

Speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald , the Top Gun : Maverick actor was chatting with the Mission: Impossible 7 cast at the Australian premiere, and of course, the franchise's future came up. Acting as one of those venues where sequel talk is always highest, especially with a decades-long saga carrying it forward, Tom Cruise made a comment in reference to Ford’s own efforts to keep kicking ass on the silver screen, saying:

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.

To be fair, Tom Cruise has just turned 62, while Harrison Ford is 80. And the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny star did happen to have a healthy amount of stunt performers helping him keep up that rugged image. Although, the producer/star of the Mission franchise has stated he'll do his own stunts as long as he can ; so Cruise really is determined to go full steam ahead in all capacities on this saga.

Mission: Impossible 9’s potential has already been flying like a flag in the wind, thanks to co-writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s previous statement about an idea already being in place for that picture. While one would naturally have assumed Cruise would likely be automatically along for the ride, this new mission statement of sorts seems to confirm that most likely will be the case. 

Next week’s opening of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One will certainly play a part in whether or not the ninth installment even gets a green light. The current two-part story, which is set to wrap on the 2024 movie schedule with Dead Reckoning Part Two , was already delayed into a debut that was years past the originally planned mark. Those delays supposedly added a huge bump to this Mission’s budget , which makes profitability seem like the highest mountain to climb for this film.

Then again, Tom Cruise delivered a golden goose of a hit in 2022, thanks to Top Gun: Maverick, wowing the crowd over an extended period of time. Mission: Impossible 7 could have similar legs, simply because the world can’t get enough of the action star's ability to deliver insane thrills with an approach that favors the practical over the digital. 

So long as he’s got the studio’s blessing, and the audience in his corner, you can be sure that Cruise will keep delivering the impossible for as long as he can. That's something that even Harrison Ford would probably tip his fedora to. 

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Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible antics have carried six films to box office glory, with Dead Reckoning Part One looking to continue that run on July 12. All IMF agents looking to refresh themselves on previous history can use their standard issue Paramount+ subscription at the time of publication; as all six Mission: Impossible movies are currently streaming on that platform. 

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.

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Tom Cruise Gets Emotional On ‘Mission: Impossible’ Red Carpet Talking About Love Of Cinema: “Guys, This Is How I Feel About Life And Our Artform” – Watch

By Nancy Tartaglione , Baz Bamigboye

Tom Cruise talked emotionally about his love for big-screen movies and dove deep into the philosophy of global cinema during an interview with Deadline on the red carpet Monday in Rome where he attended the world premiere of Paramount and Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One .

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Watch the video here:

#MI7 star Tom Cruise on the future of film (and more): “I make movies for the big screen…” pic.twitter.com/a8pPs5JA2S — Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 19, 2023

“I’m very grateful to be here,” he said of Rome. “And to be part of this, this whole time period, had we not had the community here to say we will support you in making what we wanted to do. Because I want to make movies, I make movies for the big screen, that is what I do. I understand. There’s other areas and other platforms, I understand that I’ve studied everything up down and center, from making movies to studios to distribution. And I understand that I make movies for audiences, first and foremost, and to be able to have that kind of help.

RELATED: Watch Tom Cruise And Christopher McQuarrie Thank Rome For Helping Pull Off Latest ‘Mission: Impossible’ As Movie World Premieres

“Believe me, every day I was dealing and working with this community of governments and the people in my crew, to make it so that we could all have this and be here today, and it would not have happened at enough in film and enough in Venice, Norway, Abu Dhabi, everyone and the whole industry to be able to support it make this happen. So this is a moment this is very exciting.”

Cruise said to study the industry he insisted not just on attending studio premieres in a country but also on going to their theaters and watch their movies. A philosophy began forming.

RELATED: Tom Cruise And ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ Cast Including Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny Talk On Rome Red Carpet – Watch

He added, “it was really from a point of my own desire, and passion for humanity.”

RELATED: Simon Pegg Says ‘Mission: Impossible’ Team Live With Sense That “One Day, Something Might Go Wrong” With A Big Tom Cruise Stunt

Dead Reckoning Part One  (aka  M:I7 ) sees Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future, and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Cary Elwes, Frederick Schmidt and Mariela Garriga also star.

Dead Reckoning  begins global rollout July 12.

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Cruise control: An homage to the relentless reliability of 'Mission: Impossible'

Linda Holmes

Tom Cruise returns again (and again, and again, and again) as Ethan Hunt in the latest Mission: Impossible film — Dead Reckoning Part One. Christian Black/Paramount Pictures and Skydance hide caption

Tom Cruise returns again (and again, and again, and again) as Ethan Hunt in the latest Mission: Impossible film — Dead Reckoning Part One.

More than Marvel or DC, more than Jurassic World , maybe even more than James Bond with its revolving 007s, the Mission: Impossible franchise runs on its ability to meet expectations. Not just any expectations — high expectations. People go in wanting top-flight action, beautiful locations, a modest amount of melancholy character business about Ethan Hunt's mounting personal losses, Tom Cruise doing a lot of his own stunts, and an uncomplicated story in which a bad guy has (or wants) something and a good guy has to go get it. And that's exactly what they get.

And unlike Fast & Furious , this franchise hasn't shape-shifted over and over. It has remained remarkably stable at its core, despite taking several films to settle on writer-director Christopher McQuarrie and changing up the women in Hunt's life every movie or two.

'Mission: Impossible' is back, but will you accept it, or will it self-destruct?

It is axiomatic even within this universe that the idea of the government's underground "Impossible Mission Force" is absurd; the films have even started having characters comment on it. It also seems unlikely that Hunt would be forever on the edge of being disowned and deemed a traitor, given that no human being has ever been forced to demonstrate his trustworthiness so many times. If there were really a spy like Hunt — he flies helicopters! he climbs skyscrapers! he does close-up magic! — you have to assume he would be popular with spy leadership instead of constantly seeming like he's at risk of a negative performance review. But these things are utterly unimportant, because I know them going in, and the fact that they make no sense (and repeat over and over) is a given.

In fact, I'm not sure anything has ever really surprised me in one of these movies, which might seem contradictory given that they are, in part, "thrillers." By the time an M:I guy who has seemed to be a good guy is revealed as a stealth bad guy, you've probably spent a good amount of time thinking, "Who's the stealth bad guy in this movie? Oh, I bet it's him." There don't tend to be complex motivations behind any of what happens; the villains are generally just kind of international dirtbags who have something they shouldn't. A list, a bioweapon (twice!), some launch codes, some data and of course, the sentimental favorite: big shiny balls of plutonium. In the case of the new installment Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , the battle is over two halves of a key that, in some gauzily defined way, can be combined to stop a godlike AI spoken of only as ... The Entity.

This all probably sounds like criticism, and it emphatically is not. Talking about the predictability or thinness of a story in a Mission: Impossible movie is like talking about the nutrition information on a box of Pop-Tarts — if you were focused on this aspect of the thing you are about to consume, you would have chosen something else. The story of The Entity is somehow vague and overexplained, not to mention unpleasantly adjacent to a kind of "tech as replacement for an all-knowing God" attitude that the movie doesn't actually care about, and that it doesn't really give the audience much reason to care about either. And that turns out to be completely fine.

Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One . Christian Black/Paramount Pictures and Skydance hide caption

Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One .

Because what Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One cares about is jumping a motorcycle off a mountain and then creating, though its marketing, an entire sub-narrative about the 60+ action star who trained to do the stunt himself and shot it on day one so they wouldn't waste any money if he died . What it cares about is a train dangling from a mountain. A car chase that is as witty and inventive as any you'll see anywhere. A fabulous race through an airport full of glass walls. Refreshing the cast with a woman as charming as Hayley Atwell, who is wonderfully entertaining as a scrappy pickpocket named Grace. Relying on Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, as Benji and Luther, to anchor the Impossible Mission Force team.

Movie Reviews

Tom cruise hangs on for dear life to his 'mission' to save the movies.

The biggest problem (if there is one) with Dead Reckoning is not its story, per se, but how much time it spends explaining it. It's worth noting that, as with action blockbusters generally, these films have gotten longer ... and longer ... and longer. At around two hours and 45 minutes, Dead Reckoning is roughly an hour longer than the original Mission: Impossible . It tries heroically to avoid dragging by featuring such genuinely exciting and inventive action sequences. But two hours and 45 minutes is a long time to sit in a seat having your needs met, and every time the film slows down to discuss (1) The Entity (a term that sounds sillier and sillier with repetition), (2) the keys, where they've been, and what they may open, or (3) the entire concept of a godlike AI and what it might be able to do, it gets a little ... well, fast-forwardable for future home viewers.

But again, this is what one expects. It is film as both exquisitely crafted entertainment and ruthless consumerism, fulfilling the order made at the counter with the certainty of fast-food fries that will always be the same – and will always be good.

There is some cost to this. For whatever reason, Mission: Impossible avoids the questions that are so often asked about Marvel movies in particular, about what Ryan Coogler or Chloé Zhao would be doing if they weren't making superhero movies, or about what the actors would be doing if they weren't tied into these franchises for years. Tom Cruise has mostly stopped doing the more intimate projects in comedy and drama that he did earlier in his career; he's a three-time acting Oscar nominee who pretty much does just action blockbusters now. He seems thrilled and delighted to be in this half-actor half-stuntman lane, and at 61, that's certainly his right. But there doesn't seem to be, for instance, another Magnolia in his future.

I do worry that having one's expectations precisely met – neither exceeded nor even simply upended – is becoming the only way to get people into theaters. Yes, perhaps we will take a risk for something at home that we can always turn off if we don't like it. But to get audiences to a theater, does a film need to be a sequel or a piece of IP or a franchise like this that delivers and satisfies, as neatly as a bed with hospital corners? There are signs that we're not quite there yet; Everything Everywhere All at Once did great, for instance, and an expectation-meeter it was not. But I worry about the longer-term difficulty of getting people into theaters to see something more ... well, more weird (not that all the Entity talk doesn't get a little weird).

Seeing a movie that is so very good at doing what it promises drives home that point that it takes both movies that do what they promise and movies that do something you couldn't have anticipated to make up an industry that thrives.

This piece also appeared in NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what's making us happy.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts and Spotify .

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A Bloody Tom Cruise Is on the Run in New 'Mission: Impossible 8' Set Images

New set images and videos show Ethan Hunt in another dire scenario.

The Big Picture

• New Mission: Impossible 8 set images show Tom Cruise running desperately in front of London's Houses of Parliament.
• The movie was previously known as Dead Reckoning: Part Two and involves a significant time jump from the last film.
• Christopher McQuarrie confirmed that Mission: Impossible 8 will conclude the story that began in Dead Reckoning .

Is it a Mission: Impossible movie if Tom Cruise isn't running? Hell, is it a Tom Cruise movie if Tom Cruise isn't running? Well, good news folks, if the latest set images from Mission: Impossible 8 (definitely not the final title) are anything to go by—we're getting some running done and, from the looks of it, Ethan Hunt isn't doing so good. Images posted on Twitter have shown off Cruise in full pelt in front of London's Houses of Parliament, with Big Ben looming large in the background, and looking a little worse for wear, with his shirt bloodied. What has the Entity done this time?

The movie, once known as Dead Reckoning - Part Two , has been back in production for a while in the UK, after the previous installment— Dead Reckoning —shot a large portion of the film in and around the Peak District and Derbyshire area, including an incredible steam train crash which saw the locomotive plummet into a quarry. Given the length of Cruise's hair, too, the film will obviously carry a significant time jump from the last film which will add an air of intrigue to the plot.

What Can We Expect from 'Mission: Impossible 8'?

While the film is no longer titled Part Two , its writer and director Christopher McQuarrie fully believes this is the concluding part of a story that began in Dead Reckoning , as he explained during an interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub at the film's premiere back in July.

"I knew I wanted to expand the cast, and I knew I wanted to give each one of those characters more to do, so I knew the movie was going to be bigger and longer than Fallout [ the previous movie]. And at which point I said, 'Why are we fighting this? Why are we going to try to jam this into two hours? Let's just break it in half and make it two movies.' That really was the rationale behind it being a two-part movie. It just it wasn't just that the story was bigger but that we wanted more emotion in the movie. At that time, the studio were actually very genuinely excited about it. And, you know, I think we were excited about it too. And then there were times when we were on set, and Tom would look at me, and he'd say, 'This was your idea. Just remember that.'”

The eighth film in the Mission: Impossible series is set to release in May 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for updates and check out Cruise's speedy retreat in video form below:

Mission: Impossible 8

How Mission: Impossible Became the Last Great Stunt Franchise

Over the past 27 years, the Mission: Impossible franchise became the final stronghold for “real action.”

It started with Tom Cruise and a rope.

In Mission: Impossible , Cruise’s Ethan Hunt dangles from the ceiling of an extra-secure vault in Langley, the CIA headquarters, to hack a computer protected by state-of-the-art technology. It’s a heist performed on the head of a pin. Any noise louder than a whisper could set off the alarms. Any rogue sweatdrop could be picked up by sensors. Hunt and his team manage to eke out a successful heist, but not before things almost go horribly wrong: Hunt is sent tumbling until he’s inches off the ground, waving his arms wildly to regain his balance. It’s the most enduring image of the movie, and arguably of the entire franchise. But, surprisingly, it wasn’t the stunt that Mission: Impossible stunt coordinator Greg Powell thought would be the film’s big standout moment.

“I thought it would be the train sequence,” Powell tells Inverse , referring to the climactic scene where Cruise fights Jon Voight’s Jim Phelps and Jean Reno’s Franz Krieger atop a moving train (and almost gets skewered by a helicopter rotor blade in the process).

But it didn’t take Powell long to realize which sequence would go on to become an iconic pop culture moment. “It's been copied 1,000 times, commercials, cartoons,” he says. “I wish I'd had pay in that stunt, because it's been shown over and over again.”

Why has the Langley vault stunt endured? It’s probably its deceptive simplicity. All the tension is focused on Tom Cruise and a cable rope. And unlike all the bells and whistles of the train sequence — which Powell describes as the biggest setpiece of the movie, complete with a giant wind machine that could “actually blow you off your feet” — the Langley vault sequence came down to pure human skill.

“That was pretty hard for him ,” Powell says. “That was probably harder in some ways than the train, because he's balanced and hanging there upside down and working.”

“That's why we do Mission movies, because there's no other movies like it.”

It feels fitting, then, that pure human skill — specifically, the pure skill and tenacity of Tom Cruise — has become part of the DNA of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Though the setpieces have gotten significantly bigger and more dangerous, Mission: Impossible is still about Cruise dangling from various heights. The Burj Khalifa sequence in Ghost Protocol ? Dangling Cruise off the tallest building in the world. The famous plane stunt in Rogue Nation ? Dangling Cruise off a real Airbus A400M “Atlas.” The newest Mission: Impossible movie, Dead Reckoning Part One , graduates to simply throwing Cruise off of a cliff in a stunning sequence where the actor does a combined base jump with a motocross.

It’s a long way from dangling from a Langley vault ceiling, but Dead Reckoning stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood tells Inverse it was the only direction the franchise could have gone.

“You are always trying to one-up [the last stunt].”

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation pushed the boundaries for putting Tom Cruise through death-defying stunts.

Eastwood could certainly be credited with bringing Mission: Impossible to new heights. The stunt coordinator and second unit director joined the franchise with director Christopher McQuarrie in 2015’s Rogue Nation , and has become a key part of the crew since, introducing even more death-defying stunts that use as little CGI as possible. Mission: Impossible’s dedication to stunt work has raised the bar for everyone while simultaneously setting it apart from the rest of the blockbuster landscape, namely those green-screen reliant Marvel movies — a comparison made even starker when you consider the steadily declining state of the VFX industry . In the process, the Mission: Impossible movies have become one of the last remaining bastions for “real action,” which only puts more pressure on Eastwood to deliver.

“It's very stressful because people watch Mission Impossible movies and expect great stunts,” Eastwood says. “I want to deliver great stunts to the audience. Tom definitely wants to deliver great stunts to the audience and a great story. So it's a constant battle and many sleepless nights.”

Making a Mission: Impossible Stunt

Tom Cruise and Esai Morales grapple on top of a moving train in Dead Reckoning Part One .

Planning a Mission: Impossible stunt starts at the drawing board. Eastwood, McQuarrie, and Cruise brainstorm ideas for setpieces that “would be really cool for the story” but also offer the kind of visual spectacle the Mission: Impossible movies have become known for, Eastwood says. “What would the audience want to see? What would be really cool that fits within the character in the story?” Then they factor in prep days, shooting days, and Cruise’s training schedule. They get advice from experts in the field, build a schedule — if it’s for Cruise, it’s a shorter training period because he “learns at a much higher rate than just your average person,” Eastwood says — and get to work.

Cruise, who has already developed a skill set including piloting planes, skydiving, base jumping, motocross riding, and race car driving, sets out to learn whatever new skill he may need for his next great stunt. Eastwood points to the combined base jump with the motocross that Cruise performs in Dead Reckoning Part One as an example of his commitment.

“It was emotional on the day,” Eastwood says, explaining that after “months and months of training … to nail that stunt with such perfection” caused him to almost tear up. It’s that kind of dedication that Cruise has shown that Eastwood thinks is the secret ingredient of the Mission: Impossible movies.

“I think it's just Tom from the very beginning. If Tom wasn't an actor, he would've been one of the top, if not the top, working stuntmen in the world. And the reason is he's very versatile.”

Cruise’s dedication to executing stunts himself has pushed Eastwood’s team to improve the technology that will allow Cruise to hang off the side of a mountain or base jump off a cliff. Eastwood had to develop new rigs or methods to stage the real action, using helicopters to film the sequence or hauling equipment up a mountain and bolting it 3,000 feet high.

“Logistically, it's very challenging,” he says, “but that's why we do Mission movies, because there's no other movies like it.”

How the Mission Impossible: Movies Changed Stunts

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol upped the ante on the franchise’s stunts.

Stunt coordinator Greg Powell, who has over 150 credits to his name including Harry Potter and Skyfall , has watched from afar as the Mission: Impossible franchise evolved in the 27 years since Cruise first rappelled down that Langley vault.

“Stunt work's gotten more technical now from when I was a young man,” he says. “When I was a young mate, it was crash-bang wallop, that sort of thing. These guys today, they've taken it to another level in what they do on motor bikes, and climbing, and parachuting.”

Does he credit the Mission: Impossible franchise for pushing the stunt industry to evolve? Powell wouldn’t say as much, though he’s happy to see how his work in the first Mission: Impossible laid the foundation for Cruise’s future sky-high stunts. “It set the ball running,” Powell says. “He's hanging off the side of planes now, and buildings, and jumping motorbikes with parachutes. It started with a train, and then that became a little bit more complex.”

“It's something that will be part of cinema history.”

The heights that each Mission: Impossible movie has been able to reach make Powell a little nostalgic about what he accomplished, though. Not for the Langley vault scene — no, he wouldn’t change one part of that. But if he could redo the first Mission: Impossible ’s train sequence, he would — with Cruise doing it all for real on top of a moving train, with no CGI. “I think if you should do the same thing today, it would look a lot better. But I think Tom would definitely try on the express train from London to Paris to do it,” Powell jokes.

But Eastwood doesn’t have time to look back — the Mission: Impossible movies have to evolve at such a fast rate to keep up with changing times. “Audiences have changed and techniques of rigging have changed, techniques of shooting it have changed, smaller cameras, easier to move. So we've evolved,” Eastwood says.

Looking Ahead at Dead Reckoning Part Two

Tom Cruise preparing for the combined base jump with a motocross in Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One .

Eastwood’s team is already developing new camera systems and equipment for Dead Reckoning Part Two . “We don't look at what's on the shelf, we never have,” he says. “It's constant R&D, constant. And I think you've got to be on that level to do a Mission film. You've got to be thinking way outside the box in order to evolve.” One major sequence in Dead Reckoning Part Two has already been shot, Eastwood reveals. He can’t say any more about what the sequence was, except that they shot in his home country of South Africa, and that it is “breathtaking.”

But even at the breakneck speed at which Eastwood and McQuarrie’s team are working to make the next ( and potentially last ) Mission: Impossible movie, Eastwood says they still take special care to craft each stunt for more than just spectacle. They want to make something as iconic as Tom Cruise dangling down a vault ceiling. “It's not just a stunt for that moment, a fad that's come and gone,” Eastwood says.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in theaters July 12. Part Two is scheduled to hit theaters June 28, 2024.

Tom Cruise Goes Running Again in First Look At Mission: Impossible 8

Tom Cruise does what he does best in new footage from the filming of the next Mission: Impossible installment, and fans love it.

• Fans share excitement over Tom Cruise running in London for Mission: Impossible 8 .
• Action-packed scenes feature Cruise sprinting to save the world from rogue AI, captivating audiences globally.
• Mission: Impossible 8 plot remains a mystery, but it will likely continue the story with The Entity and familiar faces.

Hollywood icon Tom Cruise is back to doing what he does best, running, as the actor films scenes for the action sequel Mission: Impossible 8 in London, England. Fans of the actor and the franchise have now taken to Twitter/X to share images, footage, and their thoughts on Cruise’s running, which somehow remains one of the most gripping elements of modern blockbuster moviemaking.

You can check out the visual poetry that is Tom Cruise running below, as well as some thoughts and feelings shared by fans who cannot wait to see him run all over the world once again in Mission: Impossible 8 .

Several images of the actor sprinting either away or towards the latest global threat have also emerged, and offer our first look at the next Mission: Impossible sequel, which was formerly titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two before changes were made behind the scenes .

Released in July last year, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a screenplay he co-wrote with Erik Jendresen. The Mission: Impossible follow-up finds Tom Cruise back as Ethan Hunt, who this time must save the world from a rogue AI known as “The Entity.” You can check out the official synopsis and trailer for Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning below.

“Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.”

What Will Mission: Impossible 8 Be About?

It is currently unknown exactly what Mission: Impossible 8 will be about but, considering that movies 7 and 8 were initially intended to be a two-parter, we can no doubt expect the next movie to carry over some of the plot elements from its predecessor. This likely includes both the AI enemy known as The Entity , and the villainous Gabriel (Esai Morales), a terrorist with ties to Ethan Hunts's past. We can also expect to see the core cast return, including Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, and Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, as well as newcomer Hayley Atwell as Grace.

How the Mission: Impossible Title Change Could Save the Franchise

The rest of the ensemble will reportedly include Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge, Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis, Pom Klementieff as Paris, and Shea Whigham as Jasper Briggs, alongside Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, Janet McTeer, Hannah Waddingham, and Lucy Tulugarjuk. Following the apparent fate of Ilsa Faust , it is currently unknown whether Rebecca Ferguson will be involved.

Mission: Impossible 8 is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 23, 2025, by Paramount Pictures.

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Tom cruise-wbd deal can’t hurt his $8 billion relationship with paramount.

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When word broke in January that Tom Cruise signed a deal to develop original and franchise pictures with Warner Bros. Discovery, including having an office for the actor’s Cruise/Wagner Productions company on the WBD lot, many ask if it’s a sign all isn’t well between Cruise and frequent collaborator Paramount Pictures. But while it's a terrific "get" for Warner’s Motion Picture Group co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, it can’t hurt the Cruise’s blockbuster relationship with Paramount.

Tom Cruise stars in "Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning - Part One"

The deal with Warner is not even exclusive, nor is it a first-look situation prohibiting Cruise from shopping projects to other studios first. I suspect it’s in fact a preparation for a set of specific projects being considered and/or developed, including some Cruise is bringing to the studio to collaborate on, and a few franchises the studio wants Cruise to appear in (and I’ve a suspicion laced with hope that it might eventually involve conversations with James Gunn and Peter Safran over at DC Studios).

Warner and Cruise will no doubt make some big projects together and enjoy lots of success, if the star-producer’s history of picking winning projects and pairing with the right people is any guide. Edge of Tomorrow , The Last Samurai , and Interview With the Vampire , are some of the films Cruise made in some collaboration with Warner that were critical and/or financial successes, combining for $1 billion in box office.

However, understanding that deal in the context of Cruise’s ongoing relationship with Paramount requires understanding at the math.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning grossed $567.5 million around the world in 2023. After the final Mission: Impossible 8 movie for Cruise releasing in 2025 and upcoming Top Gun 3 release expected for 2026, across every decade for nearly 40 years, Tom Cruise will have been making Paramount an average of $772 million per film in two tentpole franchises totaling $8-8.5 billion.

Few stars can boast similarly successful longterm relationships with a studio and franchises, and this is without discussing the massive merchandising revenue streams behind both franchises, which adds billions more in revenue streams.

Then consider the sales and licensing for TV and streaming worldwide, the soundtracks and shirts, the buttons and collectables, and the rest of the merchandise. We’re talking about money-printing machines, as franchises go.

So at first glance, it might seem surprising Cruise is willing to step outside of that relationship. I saw reactions to the title change for this year’s Mission: Impossible 8 , formerly Dead Reckoning Part 2 , asking if this reflects continued debate about the marketing of the previous film and how to proceed, with an implication the title change and deal with WBD might be tied to those rumors of Cruise being displeased by the studio’s handling of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1’s release.

But I don’t believe the situation around the promotion and final box office for Dead Reckoning is as big of a deal as some make it out to be, nor are the implications of Cruise’s deal with WBD.

For what it’s worth, I suspect the title change of the sequel from its original Dead Reckoning Part 2 to simply Mission: Impossible 8 may be a temporary place-holding palate cleanser of sorts, to distance it from the impression of the “two-part story” pitch accompanying the first film.

Add a big, new marketing promotion and tie-in merchandising deals and a dynamic new title reflecting the fact it’s (supposedly, but questionably) Cruise’s final performance as Ethan Hunt, and I think audiences will be ready to turn out in numbers closer to what Cruise and Paramount PARA hoped for last time around.

The Problem

The problems faced by Dead Reckoning Part 1 started with the fact 2023 was just a rough reset year for audiences and studios all around. It was the first year we returned to the box office in a supposed “end of the pandemic/return to normal” emergence, but everyone was still making up their minds about how much they were willing to emerge. Audiences had completely changed how they watch movies and TV, and were reorienting themselves toward more home viewing as they got used to it and realized they didn’t miss theaters much.

But the biggest factor working against Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning was its release date. It hit theaters the weekend of July 14th, 2023. And that, unfortunately, turned out to be the weekend before the historic arrival of Barbie and Oppenheimer to take complete control of the box office and combine for a grand total of nearly $2.5 billion as they played through the end of summer, all of autumn, and into winter.

Indeed, Barbie didn’t leave theaters until January of 2024, and Oppenheimer remains in theaters to this day, actually seeing an increase in screens and box office receipts in the aftermath of it’s Oscar wins, including Best Picture , Best Director , Best Actor , and Best Supporting Actor .

So it’s understandable that Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning suffered the unfortunate fate of going up against the two biggest films of the year, in a year that audiences rejected the majority of tentpole and franchise releases.

However, after all films saw large declines the weekend Barbie and Oppenheimer debuted, the Mission: Impossible sequel declined a more blockbuster-typical 64%. Not a big hold, but avoiding a sizable drop in the face of overwhelming competition.

The second weekend of the so-called “Barbenheimer” phenomenon is where things really get interesting, though. Dead Reckoning only suffered a 45% drop its third North American weekend against Barbie and Oppenheimer (which both once again dominated with massive numbers). And then, on its fourth weekend, Dead Reckoning only dropped about 38%. And then 30%.

Again, that’s just domestically. Internationally, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning performed even stronger, and those legs carried it to nearly $400 million in foreign receipts alone.

The Potential

Which is all to say, what might Dead Reckoning have grossed if it wasn’t up against two record-setting blockbusters that dominated the box office for half the year during a pandemic faux-recovery year?

Just a 10% rise internationally would’ve put Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning over the $600 million threshold, and that instantly means the entire M:I franchise has a majority of films that grossed more than $600 million. Add in a 10% domestic rise as well, and we’re talking about $620+ million and a per-film average of $600 million per film, up from the current actual average of $592 million.

That might not sound like much in relative terms, but it means a lot and the optics matter. It’s also important for the complicated “Hollywood math” used to determine various thresholds for backend points and other participation.

I’m betting that, with such sustained audience attendance and final box office of $567 million for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning in spite of the obstacles in its path in the markeplace, Mission: Impossible 8 will surely see more than just a 10% increase over Dead Reckoning’s cume.

At a 20% rise compared to Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning’s performance, the next sequel could finish somewhere around $680 million, and with enough momentum and good word of mouth it could easily top $700 million. Or more, in fact, with that big promotional blitz about it (again, so they say) being Tom Cruise’s final mission against his most dangerous foe.

This brings us back to the original point about how lucrative Mission: Impossible movies are for Paramount and Cruise. The same is true, of course, for Top Gun films as well.

The first Top Gun flew into theaters on a wave of frenzied audience anticipation and scored top grades from critics and viewers, as well as $357 million in worldwide box office. That’s equivalent to $1 billion in today’s dollars, for the inflation-adjusted conscious, which is particularly relevant for these franchises since the film lacked the massive international marketplace and huge premium screens like IMAX and Dolby Cinema with higher ticket prices, both of which drive the biggest annual blockbusters consistently toward $1 billion.

It’s no surprise, then, that Cruise’s continued star power could carry Top Gun: Maverick to greater heights and a $1.49 billion final global gross. At $1.8 billion combined, the two films set the stage for the upcoming third chapter to carry the franchise past the $3 billion line and possibly even toward $3.5 billion if it captures the public’s imaginations and hearts the way Maverick did.

Cruise is a powerhouse global star, one of the few left in Hollywood and perhaps the only one capable of delivering this sort of consistent box office and merchandising success across a span of almost 40 years. He’ll prove that when Mission: Impossible 8 arrives — maybe with a new title — May 23rd this summer. And he’ll prove it again with Top Gun 3 , although we’re still waiting on the arrival time for that one.

But rest assured, it will come. Just as eventual Mission: Impossible sequels will come, probably with Cruise involved or returning after a brief hiatus. There’s an $8 billion partnership to maintain, and Warner Bros. Discovering won’t get in the way of that.

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Tom Cruise sprints through London streets in blood-soaked shirt filming Mission Impossible

Tom Cruise has been photographed running through London in a blood-soaked shirt while he films scenes for the eighth Mission Impossible film, which is due for release in 2025

• 16:04, 25 MAR 2024

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Tom Cruise has been spotted in London as filming for the eighth Mission Impossible film, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two, gets underway. The action film, which is a direct sequel to 2023's Mission Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, will see the Hollywood actor, 61, reprise his role as Ethan Hunt.

Filming for some action-packed scenes took place in London on Sunday night (24 March), with Whitehall, Parliament Square, and Westminster Bridge all locked down from midnight to 4am to allow the filming to happen.

Photographs from the set show Tom sporting a blood-soaked shirt and sprinting through the streets of London as he's pursued by a relentless army and police force through a number iconic locations.

Later in the night, Tom was all-smiles as he wrapped up in a black puffer jacket while taking a break from filming. Tom has made the most of his time in the UK, and last month attended the London Air Ambulance gala dinner , alongside Prince William .

This event took place following the news that Kate Middleton had undergone abdominal surgery and that King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer. However it was before Kate revealed that she too had been diagnosed with the serious illness.

In a bid to lighten the mood after a testing few weeks , William, 41, made a quip about how he chose to attend the gala "to get away from it all". He shared: "It's fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather 'medical' focus. So I thought I'd come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all! But, seriously, we gather tonight to help as many people as possible benefit from top-class care in the silhouette of London Air Ambulance's flying lifelines."

Tom and William then posed together for a photo, both donning a traditional black tux. During his time in the UK, Tom has also embarked on a romance with 36 year old Russian socialite Elsina Khayrova.

The pair were reported to have enjoyed a number of walks in Hyde Park together, for which they had been wearing a disguise to ensure they had privacy. They are also said to have eaten out together at select London restaurants.

A source told MailOnline : "It's well known within Elsina's circle that she and Tom are now an item. They've grown very close over the past few weeks but take a lot of care not to be photographed together because they want to maintain their privacy. Tom has been staying the night at Elsina's apartment, which as you can imagine, is a very beautiful place."

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Tom Cruise sprints through the streets covered in blood as Mission Impossible 8 filming shuts down central London

• Tilly Pearce
• Published : 12:00, 25 Mar 2024
• Updated : 13:02, 25 Mar 2024
• Published : Invalid Date,

TOM Cruise is back in business as Ethan Hunt - but judging by his bloodsoaked clothes things aren't quite going his way.

Mission Impossible 8 is currently filming in the city, and the team brought a large part of Central London to a standstill to shoot the latest scenes.

In exclusive photos from the set, Cruise was seen running over Westminster Bridge with his shirt covered in blood.

With army and police officers on his tail, his character Ethan looked to be straight out of luck as he made his way through barricades and to safety.

Looking panicked and in a hurry, Cruise was seen bolting over the bridge to try and get away from those chasing him.

The shoot also saw Whitehall and Parliament Square being shut down.

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The Mission Impossible team have been filming at Surrey’s  Longcross Studios as well as on location since the beginning of March.

Determined to stick to schedule by any means necessary, at one point Cruise forked out for the entire cast and crew to be flown to set by helicopters after the M25 shut down.

Little is known about what will happen in the eighth instalment of the series - only that it will follow on from Dead Reckoning , which was released last year.

Originally titled Dead Reckoning: Part Two, the new film has since dropped being considered a second part and will instead go by its own name.

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Reasons for this are unknown but rumours have varied from the film going in a completely different direction to what was initially planned, to the name being scrapped due to Part One's lacklustre success at the box office.

Starring alongside Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Simon Pegg among others, Dead Reckoning went on to get two Oscar nominations for sound and visual effects.

However, despite raking in $565.8million worldwide at the box office, Dead Reckoning failed to meet the necessary returns to break even from its $291million budget.

On average, taking into account promotional costs etc, a film needs to make 2.5x its budget in order to be considered a financial success.

This was hindered slightly by the global phenomenon of Barbenheimer (the release date of Barbie and Oppenheimer) which came just two weeks after Dead Reckoning's, causing a drop off in potential sales.

Currently, the as-yet-untitled Mission Impossible 8 is scheduled to be released on May 23, 2025 after a string of pushbacks due to the pandemic and last year's SAG-AFTRA strikes.

It was initially meant to be ready for release in August 2022, before being delayed to November 2022, July 2023 and June 2024.

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Tom Cruise flashes muscular abs at Hollywood landmark

Cruise is in post-production on the 8th installment of 'mission impossible' franchise.

Tom Cruise takes on speedflying for 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One'

Go behind the scenes with Tom Cruise as he performs one of the "most dangerous sports in the world" for "Mission: Impossible." (Credit: Paramount Picture/Skydance)

Tom Cruise knows a thing or two about staying in shape.

Cruise, 61, showed off a glimpse of his toned abs while scaling the famous Hollywood sign on Saturday across a stretch of the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles.

The "Mission Impossible" star hopped on top of the large white letters with a few film crew friends and lifted his black T-shirt for a quick snap.

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Tom Cruise flashed his abs and appeared ready to film another death-defying stunt on Saturday in Los Angeles. (Backgrid/Getty Images)

Representatives did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

TOM CRUISE'S ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’ RELEASE PUSHED BACK: HOLLYWOOD STAR PLAGUED BY DELAYS AND INJURIES

It is not clear what Cruise was working on to get the shot, but he is known for performing his own death-defying stunts as one of Hollywood's most coveted actors. 

Paramount Pictures announced in October that the eighth installment of "Mission: Impossible" would be pushed back by one year.

The studio cited the SAG-AFTRA strike as one of the reasons for halting production and moved the release date from June 28, 2024 to May 23, 2025.

‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’ STAR TOM CRUISE DEFIES AGE WITH DANGEROUS STUNTS: EXPERTS

It is not the first time Cruise has faced production problems on his films, especially with the action-packed "Mission: Impossible" franchise, where he stars and performs his own stunts as agent Ethan Hunt. 

Production came to a grinding halt on "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" in 2017 when Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt where he jumped between buildings. He got the shot and went back to filming despite not being fully healed.

Tom Cruise scaled the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, as part of a stunt for "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol." (Paramount)

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The following installment, "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One," was shut down twice due to the pandemic. In addition, Cruise faced scrutiny for leaked audio where he chastised crew members for not adhering to social distancing rules.

Forbes reported that Cruise paid $700,000 for the cast and crew to live on cruise ships, essentially creating a safe environment for the team to work without risking a COVID-19 outbreak.

Tom Cruise refused to allow a stunt double to perform a free-climbing stunt in "Mission: Impossible II" and instead learned how to climb. (Paramount)

"Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" earned $567.5 million worldwide and received some of the best reviews in the franchise's 27-year history.

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"Top Gun: Maverick" also faced multiple setbacks due to the pandemic, but it ultimately landed in the right gear as Cruise's highest-grossing film and the second-highest-grossing movie in 2022, with $1.4 billion worldwide.

The Oscar-nominated film also marked Cruise's personal best when it crossed the $800 million mark in June 2022.

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Tracy Wright is an entertainment reporter for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to [email protected].

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Tom Cruise flies Mission Impossible 8 cast and crew in helicopter to avoid M25 closures

Tom Cruise won't let a bit of traffic shut down Mission: Impossible 8 .

The production could be impacted by closures on London's M25 since the filming is near junctions 10 and 11 which have been facing closures. In fact, drivers are anticipating a potential five hours of delays in the nearby area. The area will remain closed until 6 a.m. on Monday as the city demolishes an existing bridge and installs a gantry.

A source told the Sun: “The M25 closure is a headache for most people but not for Tom. He is so keen to keep Mission: Impossible 8 in production that he’s got helicopters on standby in London to fly his crew over to Longcross."

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To keep filming and production going, Tom is willing to chip in where needed. They added: “Staff on the movie or stars who are needed for filming have been told if they can’t get to Longcross because of the M25 closures they’ll be flown in by chopper. It’s a feat that is just like a scene out of one of Tom’s films.”

The move speaks largely to Tom's character. The Mission Impossible franchise has been an integral part to his career, dating back to 1996. “It sounds excessive but delaying work on the film is a bigger problem and Tom is such a professional — he’d move heaven and Earth to keep the show on the road."

If you're not a part of the production, you won't be getting any additional help for your commute. “Avoid the area totally if you can. Either avoid travelling completely and find something to do at home, decorate the bathroom or play in the garden," National Highways chief Jonathan Wade warned. "If you must go, travel by train, walk, use your bicycle."

The movie has caused some traffic stirs elsewhere recently, too. Tom was spotted filming a car chase scene in a Derbyshire mine driving a mud-clad vehicle. More details about the movie are being kept pretty quiet, but fans can expect the similar action-packed, high-paced film like the rest of the franchise. It's set to release in 2025.

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