Christopher McQuarrie is helming Mission: Impossible 7 & 8. He has directed the Mission Impossible movies, Fallout, Ghost Protocol, and Rogue Nation in the past. These movies took the franchise to the peak of its popularity and profitability. Now he is back to direct the upcoming MI 7 and 8 as well. Both will be the two parts of one title: Death Reckoning. McQuarrie has worked with Cruise many times before, such as in Jack Reacher, The Mommy, Top Gun, and Edge of Tomorrow.
In his recent interview, McQuarrie put a lid on the rumors regarding Cruise’s exit from the franchise in upcoming MI installments. He suggested in the interview that Dead Reckoning movies might not be Cruise’s sendoff from the MI franchise after all.
The franchise is keeping the exact plot details of the upcoming movies under wraps, other than the trailers and teasers. The trailers came out in May, pre-release of Top Gun: Maverick. Although we cannot glean much from the trailers other than the usual thrilling action scenes and the cast. We can see that besides Cruise, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, and Vanessa Kirby are also returning to adorn the movies. Besides the franchise’s loyalists, the seventh MI movie will also introduce us to many new characters. The new cast members according to the trailers include, Hayley Atwell as Ethan’s new love interest/mysterious. Esai Morales will be the main villain of the movie. Early this year, a report revealed that MI 7 and 8, officially titled Dead Reckoning Part 1 and 2 will be Cruise’ sendoff. However, the movie director has suggested that the news is may be just a rumor.
McQuarrie appeared recently in Mission Impossible Light the Fuse podcast. During the interview, he hinted at Cruise’s stay in the franchise even after the upcoming Death Reckoning 1 and 2. When the host asked him about the report, McQuarrie cautioned listeners not to believe everything they read without formal confirmation.
McQuarrie did not deny the reports explicitly, but we can take the subtle hints from his “don’t believe everything you read” approach. Cruise and McQuarrie are currently working hard at filming Mission: Impossible 8. But the movie is scheduled to be released on June 28th, 2024. T gives ample time to Cruise to decide his future with the franchise.
The original plan of the franchise is to shoot Mission Impossible 7 and 8 back-to-back. The practice is typical for the final installments in any series (For example: The Hunger Games and Harry Potter). Moreover, former IMF director Eugene Kittridge (played by Henry Czerny) is also returning in Death Reckoning. It is also a sign that the 7th and 8th installments will be concluding the MI saga. Likewise, they can also serve as a sendoff for Ethan Hunt.
That said, we can see the possibility of Death Reckoning as the end of Cruise’s journey with the franchise. However, the duo of Cruise and McQuarrie is not ending any time soon. The two are already collaborating for an exciting mystery project. We look forward to another amazing outcome of Cruise and McQuarrie teamwork.
