It may be time for Tom Cruise's final mission as Ethan Hunt , as Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning is doing just about everything but coming out and saying it is the last in the blockbuster franchise that dates back to 1996. But should that prove true, it's only going to make this 2025 new movie all the more anticipated by fans.
Just a reminder, that this movie is a continuation of the story that started with Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, which was released in 2023 and saw Hunt and his team try and stop an artificial intelligence program known as the Entity gain immeasurable power over all of humanity. Can they stop the Entity?
As we wait to find out, here is everything we know about Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning release date
After a slew of postponements, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning is set to premiere in movie theaters worldwide on May 23, 2025.
That is Memorial Day weekend in the US, which marks the unofficial start of summer and really kicks the summer blockbuster season into high gear. Though the Tom Cruise movie is not alone in making May 2025 a big one at the theaters, as Marvels' The Thunderbolts, Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch and Karate Kid: Legends also premiere that month.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning plot
Plot details for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning are scarce, with the only synopsis from Paramount to this point reading: "our lives are the sum of our choices." But we can make some guesses as to what lies in store for Ethan Hunt and his IMF team in the sequel based on what happened in Dead Reckoning (SPOILER ALERT).
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning saw Ethan and his team try to take down an artificial intelligence system known as The Entity that can distort the truth and has the ability to learn and become more powerful. To do so, they need to gain possession of a key that would give them access to The Entity. Standing in their way is Gabriel, a dangerous man with a connection to Ethan's past, who serves as the human representative for The Entity.
Get an in-depth breakdown of the Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One ending here, but to sum up, Ethan and his team are able to get the key, but now they must find a sunken submarine that houses The Entity's source code. The search for the sub and how to get to it and shut down The Entity are almost certainly going to be key plot points in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning cast
First and foremost, Tom Cruise will once again star as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. The actor has starred in every Mission: Impossible movie (as well as served as a producer) as the franchise has become nearly indistinguishable from him.
Also back are the members of his IMF team, including Ving Rhames as Luther, Simon Pegg as Benji and, as a new addition, Hayley Atwell's Grace.
Other returning cast members include Vanessa Kirby as The White Widow, Esai Morales as Gabriel, Pom Klementieff as Paris (who looks she may have survived her serious injury), Mariela Garriga as Marie, Henry Czerny as Kittridge, Angela Bassett as Erika Sloane, Shea Whigham as Jasper Briggs, Greg Tarzan Davis as Degas, Charles Parnell as NRO and Frederick Schmidt as Zola.
There are also a number of confirmed new additions to the cast, including Holt McCallany (Mindhunters) as Secretary of State Bernstein, Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) in an unspecified role, Nick Offerman (The Last of Us) as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Janet McTeer (The Menu) and Lucy Tulugarjuk (Tia and Piujuq).
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning trailer
The first trailer (what Paramount dubbed a "teaser trailer") for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning is here, which of course features another crazy Tom Cruise stunt (dangling from a propeller plane in flight, doing spins). See for yourself right here:
Christopher McQuarrie movies
As he has since Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, Christopher McQuarrie is going to be the director for the franchise's next adventure. Here is McQuarrie's full list of feature film directing credits:
- The Way of the Gun (2000)
- Jack Reacher (2012)
- Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)
- Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)
- Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
In addition to directing, McQuarrie has written all of the Mission: Impossible movies that he has directed, as well as well-known movies like The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Edge of Tomorrow and Top Gun: Maverick.
