The Mission Impossible 7 and 8 movies may not be Tom Cruise’s final film

According to director Christopher McQuarrie of Mission: Impossible 7 and 8, Tom Cruise’s departure from the franchise may not be as final as he thought.

The franchise hired McQuarrie to perform uncredited rewrites for 2011’s Ghost Protocol, and then he returned in 2015 to direct Rogue Nation, and last year to direct Fallout, which both figuratively and literally launched the franchise to new heights. McQuarrie returned to helm Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 following Fallout’s franchise-best box office returns.

Neither of the two movies has released exact plot details, other than what can be gleaned from the teaser trailer that accompanied Top Gun: Maverick released in May. In addition to Cruise, other franchise stalwarts include Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby.

Hayley Atwell will play Ethan Hunt’s new mysterious ally/love interest in the seventh Mission: Impossible film and Esai Morales will play the primary villain. In early January, a report suggested that Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 — formally titled Dead Reckoning Part One and Part Two — would be Cruise’s final installments in the franchise. It appears, however, that may not be the case.

During a recent appearance on the Light the Fuse podcast (via Variety), McQuarrie speculated that Cruise might not leave the Mission: Impossible franchise after the two Dead Reckoning films. In response to a question about the report, the director cautions listeners not to believe everything they read in the trades.

Although McQuarrie does not explicitly deny Cruise’s departure from the franchise, his “don’t believe everything you read” mantra is probably all he’s allowed to say. All things considered, Cruise probably hasn’t made a definitive decision about his future in the franchise yet.

In the meantime, McQuarrie and Cruise are hard at work filming Mission: Impossible 8, which won’t be released until June 28, 2024, giving Cruise enough time to make his decision.

Additionally, Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 are titled Dead Reckoning Part One & Part Two and were originally planned to shoot back-to-back, a practice usually reserved for the final two installments of a series, such as Harry Potter & The Hunger Games.

In addition, the return of Ethan Hunt’s former IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) is an indication that the seventh and eighth films will serve as a send-off and a culmination of the entire series. The cruise will likely keep collaborating with McQuarrie, even if Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 is the last movie for him. The two have an exciting mystery project in the works.

Robert Poirrer

Robert Poirrer is a contributing author who covers Hollywood latest movie releases and web series for the MovieThop website. He has a decade of experience in writing movies based articles for numerous renowned media outlets. He is excellent at creating unique content based on emerging trends in a variety of categories especially entertainment, movies and lifestyle. When not writing articles you could find Robert enjoying mountain biking trips with his friends. He graduated in English Literature from North Carolina State University.