This summer, Tom Cruise returns for the seventh time as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
In 1996, few expected Mission: Impossible to spawn a lasting franchise. In the 26 years since Brian De Palma’s taut spy thriller was first released, we’ve seen five sequels, four different directors, and a film series that has established itself as one of the slickest action movie series Hollywood has ever released.
After countless production setbacks, we’re finally about to experience the seventh Mission: Impossible movie in 2023.
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Titled Dead Reckoning Part One, it immediately follows the events of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout and is the first of a two-part swan song for Tom Cruise’s suspenseful super-spy Ethan Hunt.
Here’s everything we know about Dead Reckoning so far…
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One release date
Dead Reckoning Part One will finally hit theaters on July 14, 2023. Production was initially set to begin in February 2020, but the Covid pandemic so halted proceedings that cameras didn’t start rolling until seven months later.
Several reports coming off the Dead Reckoning set since the original delay would confirm a number of robberies, including a leaked audio recording of Cruise berating crew members for not following Covid prevention protocol.
It would take a year and a half from when filming would begin before principal photography was finally wrapped up in September 2021.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director and writer
After writing and directing the previous two Mission: Impossible movies in 2015’s Fallout and Rogue Nation, Christopher McQuarrie is back to direct Dead Reckoning.
The filmmaker has also enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with Cruise, working with him on both Jack Reacher and the critical darling Top Gun: Maverick – with the latter currently in the running for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Plot
For a film slated for a worldwide release this summer on July 14, it’s somewhat surprising that Dead Reckoning’s plot is still under wraps at the time of writing.
However, a pulsating trailer was released in May 2022, revealing little about the film’s central premise, but showing off the thrills and stunts we’ve grown accustomed to and love over the years.
Watch a trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Since both Dead Reckoning sequels are believed to mark the final chapters of Hunt’s escapades, it’s highly likely we’ll see a few faces from his past that could prove to be deadly threats to his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) squad.
Read more: Tom Cruise’s most daring stunts
As explicitly shown in the trailer, we know there will be at least three major action sequences that are sure to take place in Dead Reckoning: Cruise riding off a cliff on a motorcycle before jumping off and opening a parachute, a city-wide car chase that Leaving Rome in tatters, Cruise and Morales battle atop a high-speed train before it crashes in another homage to the first film.
Watch: Go behind the scenes at Mission: Impossible 7’s big stunt
Cruise stated that the motorcycle stunt was “by far the most dangerous” they’ve ever attempted, leaving little doubt that more roaring sequences will be revealed once the official trailer gets closer to Dead Reckoning’s release.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One cast
Cruise’s Hunt is joined by his core team of techie Luther Stickell and fellow field agent Benji Dunn (Pulp Fiction’s Ving Rhames and Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg, respectively), with Dune’s Rebecca Ferguson making her return as former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust.
The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby also reprises her role as Alanna Mitsopolis, a mysterious arms dealer who stole the show in Fallout.
Others confirmed for Dead Reckoning include Hayley Atwell (Captain America), Shea Whigham (Joker), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy), and La Bamba’s Esai Morales – who replaced Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) as the film’s main antagonist.
Perhaps the most notable addition to the cast yet is Henry Czerny, who reunites with Cruise’s Hunt as former IMF executive Eugene Kittridge – a character we haven’t seen since the first movie way back in 1996. Czerny’s Kittridge is definitely an intriguing addition to Dead Reckoning, and all signs point to him playing a major role in connecting the dots with Hunt’s storied past.
The Mission: Impossible film series has established itself in the pantheon of groundbreaking action franchises over the years and is on track to unleash a new winner in Dead Reckoning Part One.
With part two slated for release next year, you can expect more questions to be answered in the coming months that are sure to excite adrenaline junkies craving more deadly antics from Cruise and company.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One hits theaters July 14, 2023. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two will be released on June 28, 2024.