Moviemaking is an expensive business and these hold-ups have ballooned the budget to an eye-watering $290 million before marketing costs, while an eighth entry is also in the works which could well mutate to a similar size.
Undoubtedly, that makes this double-feature a gamble for Paramount, but they have no reason to doubt the team of Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie, who have taken the Mission: Impossible franchise to new heights over recent years.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find the latest cast, trailer and production news on Mission: Impossible 7 below. This article probably won’t self-destruct after reading, but just be careful, OK?
Mission: Impossible 7 release date
The seventh entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise has faced a troubled production due largely to the pandemic, resulting in a later-than-planned release date of Friday 14th July 2023.
For context, Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 were originally set to film back-to-back and launch in the summers of 2021 and 2022 respectively, but that plan went out the window when coronavirus struck.
To his credit, star Tom Cruise did everything he could to keep things on track, even reportedly setting up a “coronavirus-free village” for the cast and crew at an abandoned RAF site in Oxford back in June 2020.
His radical action towards the unprecedented situation allowed Mission: Impossible 7 to be one of the first Hollywood productions to resume work following the industry-wide COVID shutdown.
Co-star Shea Whigham told RadioTimes.com: “When you have someone like Tom, he figures these things out… We needed that at the time, we needed somebody like Tom Cruise to lead us because there’s no playbook for how to do a film in a pandemic. He’s an amazing leader, he really is.”
However, in recent months, Cruise’s hands-on approach to the franchise has caused some friction between himself and the executives at Paramount, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Supposedly, the star has objected to the studio’s plan to release Mission: Impossible 7 for just 45 days in cinema, before dropping it free-of-charge on fledgling streaming service Paramount+.
At the time of writing, the dispute isn’t over and so it remains unclear whether the film will have a full three-month theatrical run or whether it will be another early home release a la The Batman on HBO Max (in the United States).
Whigham added: “I’m with Tom and [director] McQuarrie on that. I love to see a three-month run. I’ve seen a little bit of seven, McQuarrie showed me some of that, and it is incredible stuff… these guys are cinephiles, they know cinema and they appreciate it.”
Mission: Impossible 7 cast
Tom Cruise is back as daredevil IMF agent Ethan Hunt in both movies, with Rebecca Ferguson also returning as MI6 ally Ilsa Faust for at least Mission: Impossible 7.
The first big new addition to be announced for the final two entries was Hayley Atwell, best known as the MCU’s Peggy Carter, who will be the female lead in both films.
McQuarrie has also now revealed that Guardians of the Galaxy star Pom Klementieff will join the franchise as a new femme fatale, while Ozark’s Esai Morales has reportedly bagged a villainous role.
Franchise regulars Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames are confirmed to return, but there’s been no word on a comeback for Jeremy Renner’s William Brandt, who has been conspicuously absent since 2015’s Rogue Nation.
Likewise, Angela Bassett will not be returning to her role as CIA director Erika Sloane, with the American Horror Story star explaining that she could not be in the film as a consequence of the pandemic.
“I can’t tease anything about Mission: Impossible 7 except that well, [COVID-19] took me out. Or kept me out,” she told Collider. “That’s all I know about that.”
She added: “Maybe I’ll be able to tease [Mission: Impossible] 8 when that comes out,” suggesting that her role in the franchise may not be completely finished just yet.
Gaslit star Shea Whigham is also set to star in the movie, confirming his role to be Jasper Briggs in an interview with RadioTimes.com, a mysterious figure who is tracking Ethan Hunt for reasons unknown.
Director Christopher McQuarrie has also confirmed that Henry Czerny will be returning to the franchise for its swansong, having not been seen since the very first film all the way back in 1996.
He played Hunt’s former boss Eugene Kittridge, who spent much of the movie believing Hunt was a mole, before it was proven to be Jim Phelps (Jon Voight).
Also joining the cast is comedian Rob Delaney, Game of Thrones star Indira Varma, Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss, Stranger Things alum Cary Elwes and actor Charles Parnell, who recently collaborated with Cruise on Top Gun: Maverick.
What will happen in Mission: Impossible 7?
Details about the plot are scarce but one thing we can expect is extreme stunts from Tom Cruise, who is presumably looking to top his HALO jump and helicopter manoeuvres from Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
One stunt in M:I 7 will see Cruise ride a motorcycle off the edge of the cliff, which he told Empire is the single most dangerous thing he’s ever done – and that’s saying something!
“If the wind was too strong, it would blow me off the ramp,” he explained. “The helicopter [filming the stunt] was a problem, because I didn’t want to be hammering down that ramp at top speed and get hit by a stone.
“Or if I departed in a weird way, we didn’t know what was going to happen with the bike. I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I don’t want to get tangled in the bike. If I do, that’s not going to end well.”
As Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 are filming back-to-back, it seems likely that the seventh entry could have a cliffhanger ending in a similar vein to Avengers: Infinity War (which led into 2019’s Endgame).
Cruise’s co-star Shea Whigham teased that his character, Jasper Briggs, does indeed have a story arc spread across the two films, which sounds like it could have some surprises in store.
“You’ll see, over the course of seven and eight, why I’m trying to track Ethan Hunt,” he told RadioTimes.com. “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever got a chance to be a part of.”
Besides those jaw-dropping stunts, after surviving the last film, it’s entirely possible that recurring villain Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) may return as an antagonist.
Mission: Impossible 7 trailer
The film is still in production, so hold your horses. Expect a trailer closer to release – possibly late 2021.
However, we do have this tantalising image from the set which appears to tease another death-defying stunt for Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in the upcoming flick.
Will there be a Mission: Impossible 8?
Mission: Impossible 8 has been confirmed and production is currently getting underway.
Tom Cruise is down to star once again but little else is known about the eighth instalment of the franchise.
Presumably, it will be titled Dead Reckoning – Part 2.
Mission: Impossible 8 release date
Mission: Impossible 8 currently has a release date of Friday 28th June 2024.
The initial plan was for production to get underway on Mission: Impossible 8 straight after Mission: Impossible 7, with the shoots happening back-to-back.
Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 need to “[swallow] the last three movies whole”, director Christopher McQuarrie told Empire. “I pitched the idea of making two movies, and now I have to justify why it’s two movies.”
Things haven’t gone entirely to plan though, with The Hollywood Reporter stating in March 2022 that the eighth film had started shooting, despite the fact that the seventh remains unfinished.
Mission: Impossible 7 will be released in the UK in July 2023. In the meantime, if you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news.
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