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The truth behind M:I-2 's most dangerous stunt

Director John Woo says Tom Cruise's life dangled by a thread

If heights give you the heebie-jeebies, you may want to keep your eyes wide shut during the opening scene of Mission: Impossible 2 (in theaters May 24). Tom Cruise scales a vertigo-inducing cliff with his bare hands, leaps over a deadly drop, then hangs from a rock ledge by his fingertips before pulling himself up to safety. If you can't figure out how the producers found a stunt double who looks so much like the 37-year-old star, that's because they didn't. "It was all Tom up there," says producer Paula Wagner. "So of course, we had some really nail-biting moments."

Cruise, who is also a producer on the film, insisted on performing the sequence wearing only a thin safety cable, and he vetoed a small-scale cliff that had been constructed by the set department. Even though Cruise had two rock climbing experts on the set to guide him, his decision didn't sit well with director John Woo ( Face/Off ). "I was really mad that he wanted to do it, but I tried to stop him and I couldn't," Woo says. "I was so scared I was sweating. I couldn't even watch the monitor when we shot it."

Unfortunately for Woo, it took seven takes under the blazing Moab, Utah, sun to get the scene right. "We had five cameras on the cliff, including a helicopter camera, a camera on a crane, and cameramen hanging from safety cables, but we had focus problems, so we had to do it again and again," he says. "But Tom would say, 'I'm okay, John, don't worry, I want to do it one more time."'

Though Cruise's decision to perform his own stunts, including dangling from a helicopter six stories above the ground, didn't carry over to the rest of the crew (a lighting double refused to step in for one of Cruise's costars during a helicopter stunt), everyone seems to agree that his derring-do made a difference in the finished product. "The opening sequence just wouldn't have been the same if he hadn't done it himself," says costar John Polson. "No amount of special effects can make you feel like that, because you can tell that it's really just him."

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"he's got tears": tom cruise begged to do one super dangerous mission: impossible 2 stunt.

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• Mission: Impossible 2 memorably opens with a sequence in which Ethan Hunt is scaling the side of a cliff, with one scene featuring the actor jumping from one side of the cliff to the other.
• Director John Woo recalls that he was originally going to have a stuntman do the scene, but Tom Cruise was adamant that he do it himself as the audience would know if it wasn't really him.
• While generally regarded as the worst entry in the franchise, Mission: Impossible 2 can arguably be considered the inception of the franchise's (and Cruise's) focus on death defying stunts.

Mission: Impossible 2 director John Woo recalls Tom Cruise's emotional pleas to be allowed to film one especially dangerous stunt. Released in 2000, the second film in the long-running action franchise sees Cruise return as Ethan Hunt to face off against a rogue IMF agent in possession of a deadly virus. The film, which was met with mixed reviews, features a handful of impressive stunt sequences, including one at the very start when Hunt is seen scaling the side of a cliff and jumping from one handhold to another.

In a recent interview with The New York Times to promote the release of his latest film, Silent Night , Woo recalls how Cruise begged to be able to film Mission: Impossible 2 's cliff stunt himself. The actor, according to the director, had clear thoughts behind why a stunt performer shouldn't do the scene for him. Check out Woo's full comment below:

“We did a scene when he’s climbing on a 2,000-foot-high cliff. We have three stunt doubles, they’re all great climbers. I said, ‘OK, from this side jump over to the other side, only one cable.’ He said, ‘No, no, let me do it.’ I said, ‘Why? No, it’s too dangerous. There are no protections. What if you made a mistake?’ ‘No, John, believe me, I can do it.’ “He’s begging me and he’s got tears. He did the whole thing without a double. He said, ‘The audience will notice when you use a double. The body movement is so different from mine. Even from the back, they know it wasn’t me.’ “Sometimes I’d set up the camera and he [has some] other idea. The crew, they’re all looking at me, and I know it’s going to be trouble. I brought him to the back of the set and I told him, ‘My camera angle will make you look great, very pretty. You just trust me.’ And he understood. Then I brought him out to talk to everybody: ‘Our idea is to put the camera there.’ He didn’t lose face.”

Mission: Impossible 2 Started A Tom Cruise Trend

Mission: Impossible 2 is generally considered the weakest entry in the franchise, but it does arguably serve as the inception of the current state of the franchise and perhaps Cruise's career more generally. Save for Cruise's iconic suspension from the ceiling, the first Mission: Impossible was more of an espionage film and fairly light on death-defying stunts. The sequel, however, really marks the start of Cruise seriously risking his safety (in a highly controlled environment) for the audience's entertainment.

In addition to the cliff sequence, Woo's sequel also features a scene in which a knife is suspended only a fraction of an inch above Cruise's eye. Mission: Impossible 3 , similarly, features the star jumping off a building and slamming into a car. It's in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol 's Burj Khalifa stunt , however, that Cruise pulls off his biggest and most publicized stunt. It's with the 2011 sequel, too, that the franchise actually starts marketing the movies around one or two standout set pieces.

Mission: Impossible 2 's knife scene features a real knife attached to a cable that is secured to an overhead bar. While the cable was designed to stop the knife just before it touched Cruise's eye, there was no margin for error or equipment malfunctions.

Since the 2011 sequel, each new entry in the franchise has the difficult challenge of outdoing the one that came before it, with the latest film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 featuring Cruise driving a motorcycle off a cliff into a base jump. While Mission: Impossible 2 may not be the best of Cruise's outings as Ethan Hunt, it might just be the true origin point of what the franchise is today, and that's certainly worth celebrating.

Source: The New York Times

• Mission: Impossible

The Film Bandit

Tom cruise’s gnarly rock climbing scene in mi 2.

Mission Impossible 2 witnessed Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt , agent of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), scale a 2,000-foot cliff at Utah’s picturesque Dead Horse Point . It remains one of the craziest stunts in movie history. Cruise, known for performing his own stunts, opted in on this one using his bare hands. This raised concerns for the movie’s director, John Woo.

Director John Woo’s Fears

John Woo experienced a wave of anxiety over the execution of the stunt. His main task was to effectively portray Ethan Hunt’s fearlessness without compromising Cruise’s safety.

Woo, feeling the responsibility of the actor’s safety on his shoulders, admitted to being angered by Cruise’s decision to participate in such a dangerous stunt, fearing a potential accident. He reportedly refused to watch the monitor during filming. However, Cruise’s insistence on authenticity won out, resulting in an incredibly realistic climbing sequence that continues to stun audiences to this day.

The Execution of the Climbing Stunt

Cruise was supported by a skilled stunt team including professional rock climber Ron Kauk , who served as a consultant, and stunt double Keith Campbell . Campbell was heavily involved in the filming and although Tom insisted on doing all of the stunts himself, Campbell is actually the one doing the “slip off the overhang” portion of the stunt.

The action star and his double were both equipped with safety gear, including a harness attached to winches, which were securely fastened to small rock ledges on the side of the mountain. These critical safeguards were later digitally erased during post-production, reinforcing the illusion of a free solo climb.

The Challenges for Cameramen and the Use of Multiple Cameras

The cliff-climbing scene involved an elaborate setup of five different cameras to capture every movement and angle of Cruise’s ascent. Each cameraman faced the challenge of accurately capturing the stunt from various positions, from the side of the mountain to the top of the cliff.

The different camera angles achieved a variety of goals, creating a sense of danger and amplifying the tension. Additionally, these multiple perspectives offered a close-up view of Hunt as he navigated the rugged terrain. From his tense fingertips gripping onto the overhang to his knees braced against the cliff’s steep slope, it’s hard not to look away.

Beyond the Tom Cruise Rock Climbing Scene

Beyond Mission Impossible 2 , Cruise’s decision to perform his own stunts has become an integral part of his star power. In Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol , he scaled the Burj Khalifa , the world’s tallest building in Dubai, in a similarly hair-raising sequence.

In Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation , he held on to the side of a cargo plane during takeoff, elevating the franchise once again. Each installment has seen him performing ever more dangerous stunts, ensuring that every sequel is a blockbuster hit.

The actor’s dedication extends beyond the Mission Impossible franchise. In Top Gun: Maverick , Cruise reminds us of his versatility, engaging in a high-speed dogfight scene in a jet. He even manages to maintain composure under intense G-Forces during the flight scenes.

The Mission Impossible 2 climbing scene received glowing reviews from the British Academy Film Awards and other notable organizations. Audiences praised the scene as a thrill-inducing opener, leading to a significant surge at the box office and establishing the movie as a frontrunner in the 2010’s action sequel market.

Comparisons with Real-Life Climbing Feats

Comparisons can be drawn to real-life climbing feats such as Alex Honnold’s ascent of El Capitan , a climb detailed in Jimmy Chin’s documentary Free Solo . The film, which won a Best Documentary Oscar, PGA, DGA prizes, and was a favorite at Cinema Eye Honors and IDA Documentary Awards , depicts Honnold’s journey climbing Yosemite National Park’s most recognized rock formation without ropes. It’s a gripping watch, much like the cliff-climbing sequence in Mission Impossible 2 , albeit with the added intensity of real-life stakes involved.

While Free Solo does an incredible job of portraying extreme real-life climbing, the Mission Impossible 2 sequence takes artistic liberties to heighten the experience. But the thrill is mutual, as audiences watch Honnold, and Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, defy gravity.

Despite occasional deviations from reality and an understanding of the actual dangers involved, the Mission Impossible 2 opening scene remains one of the most impressive stunts to date.

Tom Cruise won’t likely stop taking huge risks, always striving to create a thrill for the audiences who love him. His desire to impress audiences pushes Tom to continue performing these death-defying stunts, setting a benchmark for future installments. Mission Impossible 7 hits theaters this week.

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Mission: Impossible II

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Mission: Impossible II  (marketed as  M:I-2  and on Blu-ray as  Mission: Impossible 2 ) is a 2000 American action spy film directed by  John Woo  and starring  Tom Cruise , who also served as the film's producer. It is the sequel to  Brian De Palma 's 1996 film  Mission: Impossible  and has Cruise reprising his role as Agent Ethan Hunt  of the  IMF , a top-secret espionage and clandestine operation agency. In Mission: Impossible 2 , Ethan Hunt is tasked with destroying a dangerous virus before it's manufacturers can spread it. The film is the second installment of the  Mission: Impossible film series  and was followed by  Mission: Impossible III  (2006),  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol  (2011),  Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation  (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two (2024).

• 4.1 Box Office
• 4.2 Critics
• 5.1 Title sequence
• 5.2 Posters

Ethan Hunt , while on holiday, is alerted by the  IMF  that someone has used his identity to assist Russian molecular biologist,  Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich , of Biocyte Pharmaceuticals to enter the United States , only to kill him in a subsequent plane crash. Nekhorvich, an old friend of Ethan, had forewarned the IMF of his arrival, planning to deliver a new bio-weapon,  Chimera , and its cure,  Bellerophon , both of which he was forced to develop by Biocyte, into the IMF's hands. With his death, IMF is worried that the virus is out in the open, believing that rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose is responsible. IMF assigns Ethan to recover it. Ethan is told that he can select two members of his team to help him, but the third person to help him must be Nyah Nordoff-Hall , a professional thief presently operating in Seville, Spain, as she will be able to get close to Ambrose, being an ex-girlfriend.

After recruiting Nyah, Ethan meets two members of his team--computer expert Luther Stickell and pilot Billy Baird in Sydney, Australia, where Biocyte laboratories are located along with Ambrose's residence. As Ethan and the others stake out Biocyte, Nyah gets close to Ambrose and begins to work him for information related to the Chimera virus. Later at Ambrose's house, Hugh Stamp , Ambrose's right-hand man, doubts Nyah's loyalty to Ambrose and Ambrose rewards him by snapping off a portion of his left finger. At a horse racing event, Ambrose quietly meets with Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy , and shows him a video of the Chimera virus affecting Dr. Sergei Gradski , one of Nekhorvich's colleagues, taken from Biocyte, so he can blackmail McCloy into cooperating with them. Nyah is able to pocket the video footage long enough to transfer it to Ethan and his team, who learn that the Chimera virus has a 20-hour dormant period before it causes death through mass destruction of the victim's red blood cells. Bellerophon can save the victim only if used within that 20-hour window.

The IMF team kidnaps McCloy and learns that Nekhorvich had actually injected himself with Chimera, the only way he could smuggle the virus from Biocyte, and had all the known samples of Bellerophon, now presently in Ambrose's hands. Ambrose had forced McCloy to sell him the virus for £37,000,000 in exchange for the samples of Bellerophon. Ethan's team plans to break into Biocyte and destroy the virus. Ambrose, posing as Ethan, tricks Nyah into revealing Ethan's plan. Ambrose secures Nyah and prepares to raid Biocyte himself to secure the virus. Ethan is able to destroy all but one sample of the virus before Ambrose interrupts him, and a firefight ensues. Ethan learns that Ambrose is holding Nyah and stops firing, during which Ambrose orders Nyah to retrieve the last sample. When she does so, she injects herself with it, thus preventing Ambrose from simply killing her to get it. As Ambrose takes Nyah and Ethan escapes from the laboratory in the ensuing gun battle between Ambrose's men and Biocyte security personnel, Ethan starts a 20-hour countdown before the virus takes over Nyah's body.

Ambrose opts to let Nyah wander the streets of Sydney in a daze, intending to trigger a Chimera pandemic in Australia, and orders McCloy to effectively hand over enough control of Biocyte to make him the majority shareholder; Ambrose's plan is now to make a fortune when prices of Biocyte's stock skyrocket due to demand for Bellerophon. Ethan's team is able to locate and infiltrate the meeting, stealing the samples of Bellerophon while taking out many of Ambrose's men. Luther and Billy locate Nyah, who has wandered to a cliff side, intent on killing herself to prevent Chimera from spreading. As the two IMF agents bring Nyah to Ethan, he and Ambrose engage in a vicious fight. With little time left on the 20-hour countdown, Ethan finally gains the upper hand over Ambrose and kills him, and Luther injects Nyah with Bellerophon. IMF clears Nyah's criminal record, and allows Ethan to continue his vacation with her in Sydney.

• Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
• Dougray Scott as Sean Ambrose
• Thandie Newton  as  Nyah Nordoff-Hall
• Ving Rhames  as  Luther Stickell
• Richard Roxburgh  as  Hugh Stamp
• John Polson  as  Billy Baird
• Brendan Gleeson  as  John C. McCloy
• Rade Serbedzija  as  Vladimir Nekhorvich
• William Mapother  as  Wallis
• Mathew Wilkinson  as  Michael
• Dominic Purcell  as  Ulrich
• Christian Manon  as  Sergei Gradski
• Anthony Hopkins  as  Swanbeck   (uncredited)
• Unknown actor as  Simon
• Mission: Impossible Theme
• Bare Island
• Mano a Mano
• Mission Accomplished
• Nyah and Ethan

Reception [ ]

Box office [ ].

On opening day, Mission: Impossible 2 made $12.5 million, making it the fourth-highest-grossing Wednesday opening, behind Men in Black , Independence Day and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace . At that time, it had the largest number of screenings, playing at 3,653 theaters and beating Scream 3 . The film would go on to hold this record until it was surpassed by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone the following year. It grossed $57,845,297, crossing over Toy Story 2 to have the third-highest-grossing opening weekend of all time, behind The Lost World: Jurassic Park and The Phantom Menace . Moreover, the film surpassed its predecessor Mission: Impossible for not only having the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film based on a TV show, but also the largest opening weekend for any Paramount film. It also dethroned Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me for scoring the biggest opening weekend for a spy film. The latter record would be held until 2002 when it was given to Austin Powers in Goldmember . Three years later in 2005, War of the Worlds surpassed Mission: Impossible 2 for having the highest-grossing opening weekend for a Paramount film. Then in 2007, The Simpsons Movie took the record for having the biggest opening weekend for a film based on a TV show. As for Mission: Impossible 2 , it earned $91.8 million in its first six days, becoming the second-largest Memorial Day opening weekend, just after The Lost World: Jurassic Park .

When Mission: Impossible 2 first opened, the film was ranked number one at the box office, topping out Dinosaur . It held on to the number one spot for two weekends until it was overtaken by Gone in 60 Seconds . Around this time, the film went on to become the highest-grossing film of the year domestically, beating Gladiator . It would remain so until that December when it was dethroned by How the Grinch Stole Christmas . The film eventually grossed $215,409,889 in its North American release and $330,978,216 in other territories, totaling $546,388,105 worldwide, the highest-grossing film of 2000. It is John Woo's highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Face/Off , and was the highest-grossing film in the Mission: Impossible series until the release of the fourth film, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol , in 2011.

Critics [ ]

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes indicates Mission: Impossible 2 has an overall approval rating of 56% based on 155 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Your cranium may crave more substance, but your eyes will feast on the amazing action sequences." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The site's Audience Score sits at 42% with 250,000 verified ratings, making the franchise's lowest rated instalment. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, down from the first film's "B+".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three stars, stating "if the first movie was entertaining as sound, fury, and movement, this one is more evolved, more confident, more sure-footed in the way it marries minimal character development to seamless action." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly felt the film was a "throwaway pleasure" but also "a triumph of souped-up action." Ella Taylor of LA Weekly said that "every car chase, every plane crash, every potential drop off a cliff is a masterpiece of grace and surprise." Desson Howe of The Washington Post said that "[John] Woo [...] takes complete command of the latest technology to create brilliant action sequences." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said, "Check your brains at the popcorn stand and hang on for a spectacular ride."

J. Hoberman of The Village Voice called the film "a vaguely absurd thriller filled with elaborately superfluous setups and shamelessly stale James Bond riffs." Dennis Harvey of Variety said the film is "even more empty a luxury vehicle than its predecessor" and that it "pushes the envelope in terms of just how much flashy packaging an audience will buy when there's absolutely nada inside." Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader said that "no hero or villain winds up carrying any moral weight at all."

In a retrospective commentary in 2012, Brad Brevet noted the film has significant similarities in plot and themes to Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious .

Mission: Impossible 2 was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards at the 2000 ceremony, including Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Supporting Actress for Thandie Newton. It was also nominated for a Stinker Award at the 2000 ceremony for Worst Song (Limp Bizkit's "Take a Look Around").

Gallery [ ]

Title sequence [ ].

Posters [ ]

• 1 Ilsa Faust
• 2 Ethan Hunt
• 3 Julia Meade-Hunt

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‘Free Solo’ Subject Alex Honnold Reviews Iconic Rock Climbing Scenes, Even Tom Cruise

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“ Mission: Impossible – Fallout” might have earned the Tom Cruise -starring franchise its best reviews and biggest box office yet, but one thing it was missing was a better opening scene than “Mission: Impossible 2.” John Woo’s 2000 action sequel begins with Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt free solo climbing at Utah’s Dead Horse Point. Cruise performed the scene with wires that were digitally removed in post-production to make it appear as if his character was climbing without any wires.

The opening of “Mission: Impossible 2” was achieved with digital wizardry, but “Free Solo” star Alex Honnold free solo climbs for real on camera throughout much of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary “Free Solo.” The National Geographic release chronicles Honnold as he prepares to climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in June 2017.

GQ recently got Honnold on camera to break down some of the most iconic rock climbing scenes in movie history, including that “Mission: Impossible 2” opening. According to Honnold, Cruise and the “Mission: Impossible” stunt team did a pretty accurate job in depicting the basics of climbing. Using the knee to rest on a small rock ledge, for instance, is exactly what a professional rock climber would do. Honnold said the scene is “totally over the top” but accurate nonetheless.

“Free Solo” is currently the frontrunner for the Best Documentary Oscar after winning prizes from the IDA Documentary Awards, the National Board of Review, Cinema Eye Honors, and the British Academy Film Awards. The documentary was also nominated for the PGA and DGA prizes for Best Documentary. Watch Honnold weigh in on cinema’s best and worst rock climbing scenes in the video below.

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Thandie Newton Recalls the "Nightmare" of Working with a "Really Stressed" Tom Cruise

"He tries superhard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot," she said in an interview.

• In a recent interview with Vulture, Thandie Newton recalled her difficult experience working with Tom Cruise while filming Mission: Impossible II .
• Newton described Cruise as "really stressed" and "dominant," although "he tries superhard to be a nice person."

No one, it seems, is impervious to the fear that Mission: Impossible 's franchise star and Hollywood's resident Scientology ambassador, Tom Cruise, can provoke. Not even Thandie Newton .

In conversation with Vulture , Newton described her experience working opposite a "really stressed" and "dominant" Cruise on the 2000 film Mission: Impossible II . When asked why she never filmed another movie with the action/thriller franchise, the Westworld actress merely said, "Oh, I was never asked. I was so scared of Tom. He was a very dominant individual. He tries superhard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done."

She also regaled an incident on set in which her and Cruise attempted to finish a night scene on a balcony. "I don't think it was a very well-written scene," Newton said. "I get angry with him. We're frustrated with each other. And we're looking out over Spain. It wasn't going well. And [director] John Woo, bless him, wasn't there. He was downstairs looking at everything on a monitor. And John had made a decision at the beginning of the movie, unbeknownst certainly to me, that he didn't speak English. Which I think was very helpful to him, but it was extremely unhelpful to the rest of us. So this scene was happening, and Tom was not happy with what I was doing because I had the shittiest lines.

"And he gets so frustrated with having to try and explain that he goes, 'Let me just—let's just go do it. Let's just rehearse on-camera.' So we rehearsed and they recorded it, and then he goes, 'I'll be you. You be me.' So we filmed the entire scene with me being him—because, believe me, I knew the lines by then—and him playing me. And it was the most unhelpful … I can't think of anything less revealing. It just pushed me further into a place of terror and insecurity. It was a real shame. And bless him. And I really do mean bless him, because he was trying his damnedest."

According to Newton, Cruise grew more stressed over the course of that night, to the point of manifesting a blemish on his face. "I remember at the beginning of the night, seeing this slight red mark on his nose, and by the end of the night, I kid you not—this is how his metabolism is so fierce—he had a big whitehead where that red dot was," she said. "It would take anyone else 48 hours to manifest a zit. I saw it growing, and it was like the zit was me, just getting bigger and bigger."

She said that she later called director Jonathan Demme, telling him how much of "a nightmare" the on-set disaster was. "As I was describing it, it was clear that I thought I was the big fucking problem. And Jonathan was like, 'Thandie, shame on you for not backing yourself.' He was really sweet," Newton continued. "And then Tom called and I thought, Oh, this is it. The apology. No, he was just like, 'We're going to reshoot this next week.' I'm like, 'Way brilliant.' And the next time we shot it, I went in there and I just basically manifested all the—because I realized what he wanted. He just wanted this alpha bitch. And I did as best as I could. It's not the best way to get the best work out of someone."

Still, Newton doesn't seem to think poorly of Cruise as a person. "He wasn't horrible. It was just—he was really stressed," she said. "I had the most extraordinary time, and you know who got me that role? Nicole Kidman. I've never actually outright asked her, but when your husband is like, 'Who would you mind me pretending to shag for the next six months?' You know what I mean? It's kind of nice if you can pick together. Nicole was a huge advocate for me."

Newton later said of her Mission: Impossible II experience , "Look, creative stuff is difficult. I was so tender and sensitive. And, also, if you think about the timeline of that, it was still early in my healing, in my recovery. I'd had good therapy. I'd realized that I was precious. If it was me now, I would want to go in and go, 'Hey!' I'd be it. You wouldn't need to play me and I play you on that balcony. And I would have squeezed that spot. Bam!"

Oh, and if you were perhaps wondering what kind of gifts Cruise gives, Newton also had an answer for that: "He was very generous and open about sharing Scientological stuff. Christmas gifts would be something to do with Scientology. … Like a book with the greatest hits of Scientology, a bit like a Bible kind of thing. I was curious, because it's like, Wow, if it's going to attract people, powerful, high-profile people, there's got to be some glue that sticks this shit together. Didn't find any."

As an associate editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, Chelsey keeps a finger on the pulse on all things celeb news. She also writes on social movements, connecting with activists leading the fight on workers' rights, climate justice, and more. Offline, she’s probably spending too much time on TikTok, rewatching Emma (the 2020 version, of course), or buying yet another corset. 

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Why Thandie Newton Was ‘So Scared’ of Tom Cruise on ‘Mission: Impossible 2’

Between the Scientology-themed Christmas presents, a mutant zit, and some tense on-set struggles, Newton’s experience on the film was “more just surreal than anything.”

Laura Bradley

Senior Entertainment Reporter

Who would have guessed that Tom Cruise can be a little strange, even intimidating, to work with? But did you have Scientology-themed Christmas gifts on your weirdo bingo card?

In a broad, juicy interview with Vulture , Thandie Newton shared, among many other things, her experience working with Cruise on Mission: Impossible 2. He was “very generous and open about sharing Scientological stuff,” she said. Among the Scientology swag he liked to hand out? “Like a book with the greatest hits of Scientology, a bit like a Bible kind of thing,” Newton recalled. “I was curious, because it’s like,  Wow, if [Scientology is] going to attract people, powerful, high-profile people, there’s got to be some glue that sticks this shit together.  Didn’t find any.”

But Newton’s bizarre on-set experiences did not stop with bizarre, pseudo-religiously-themed swag. “I was so scared of Tom,” she said. “He was a very dominant individual. He tries superhard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done.”

For example? At one point, she said, the two were shooting a night scene with Cruise on a balcony, in which their characters were supposed to be frustrated with one another. Director John Woo was downstairs watching them perform from a monitor.

“So this scene was happening, and Tom was not happy with what I was doing because I had the shittiest lines,” Newton recalled. “And he gets so frustrated with having to try and explain that he goes, ‘Let me just—let’s just go do it. Let’s just rehearse on-camera.’ So we rehearsed and they recorded it, and then he goes, ‘I’ll be you. You be me.’”

And so, the two filmed the entire scene in one another’s roles. “And it was the most unhelpful … I can’t think of anything less revealing,” Newton said. “It just pushed me further into a place of terror and insecurity. It was a real shame. And bless him. And I really do mean bless him, because he was trying his damnedest.”

Another fun fact about that shoot? Cruise apparently managed to grow a massive zit in record time.

“I remember at the beginning of the night, seeing this slight red mark on his nose, and by the end of the night, I kid you not—this is how his metabolism is so fierce—he had a big whitehead where that red dot was,” Newton said. “It would take anyone else 48 hours to manifest a zit. I saw it growing, and it was like the zit was me, just getting bigger and bigger.”

Newton later called Jonathan Demme to talk about the shoot. “I described the night to him: ‘A nightmare.’”

Later, Cruise called her—not, as she’d expected, to apologize, but to let her know they’d be reshooting that same scene the next week.

“He wasn’t horrible,” Newton clarified. “It was just—he was really stressed... That was more just surreal than anything.”

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Ewan Maleszka

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6ter diffuse ce mercredi 13 janvier à 21h05 le film Mission Impossible II . Sorti en 2000 et réalisé par le Chinois John Woo , ce MI2 fait suite au premier film de la saga sorti quatre ans plus tôt. Doté d'un budget beaucoup plus important que son prédécesseur, il oppose cette fois Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise ) à Sean Ambrose ( Dougray Scott ), un de ses anciens collègues qui a mis la main sur un dangereux virus avec l'intention de s'en servir. Pour l'en empêcher, Ethan Hunt va faire équipe avec la petite amie de Sean, Nyah ( Thandie Newton ) et Luther Stickell ( Ving Rhames ), déjà présent dans le premier film.

Tom Cruise suspendu à une falaise

Lors d'une des premières scènes du film, Ethan Hunt escalade une falaise alors qu'il est en vacances avant d'être ramené au quartier général de Mission Impossible en hélicoptère. Connu pour effectuer ses propres cascades , Tom Cruise n'a pas passé son tour pour celle-ci, il a donc réellement escaladé cette falaise . Le réalisateur John Woo a avoué plus tard avoir eu " la chair de poule " lors du tournage de cette scène : " Tom était suspendu à cette falaise à plusieurs centaines de mètres de haut, traqué par un hélicoptère dont les pales le frôlaient ".

Deux nouveaux Mission Impossible en préparation

John Woo a également indiqué que Tom Cruise est très professionnel et que cette scène n'avait pas dérogé à la règle : " il ne s'est pas contenté d'une prise, il a exigé qu'on refasse la scène encore et encore jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit parfaite. Mais je comprends et j'admire son perfectionnisme ". Ce perfectionnisme a participé entre autres au succès de ce Mission Impossible II et des autres films de la saga, puisqu'ils sont désormais au nombre de six. Deux autres sont en préparation avec à la réalisation Chrisopher McQuarrie , qui a déjà officié sur Rogue Nation et Fallout , les deux derniers films de la saga à être sortis en salles.

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How the cast of Mission: Impossible felt watching Tom Cruise riding a bike off a cliff in Dead Reckoning

Topic: Film (Arts and Entertainment)

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, which is out in Australia on July 8.  ( Supplied: Christian Black )

In the seventh and latest Mission: Impossible movie, actor Tom Cruise performs what director Christopher McQuarrie describes as his most dangerous stunt yet — driving a motorbike straight off a cliff.

"We have a motto on this movie now, which is, "that's a terrible idea. When do we start?" McQuarrie said in an interview with ABC News.

"The more ill-advised something seems, that's how we know we're onto something. And what you're seeing in this movie is just Tom and I taking everything we've learned from all the movies previously — not just Mission: Impossible — [but] Top Gun, Edge of Tomorrow. All the movies we've done separately and together and just applying it to this one."

The cast watched Tom Cruise perform the stunt about eight times in a row.  ( Supplied: Christian Black )

In Dead Reckoning Part One, which releases in Australia this week, Ethan and his team of spies race across the globe to face off against a sophisticated, evolving AI threat.

Dead Reckoning is the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible series, and the first of two parts. 

It stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Pom Klementieff, who was present when Cruise made his death-defying leap.

"We all were watching, we were in Norway and we saw him do it seven or eight times in a row in front of us, it was insane," Klementieff, who plays new character Paris, said.

"It's easier to be there than it is to wait to hear if it went well," Pegg added.

"If you're back at the hotel or the cruise ship we were staying on at the time -- just watching your watch and just waiting, it's terrifying. It's better to be there. Get it over with, tear the bandaid off, see it happen. But my God it was extraordinary."

Pom Klementieff plays new character Paris in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. ( Supplied: Christian Black )

Still, McQuarrie says another stunt in Part Two, which is due out June 2024, will top even this one.

"So if you go back and look at the other Mission: Impossibles you can see within other sequences, the dress rehearsals for the sequences we're doing now, after every movie, we just look at one another and say 'we can do better'.'"

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on set. ( Supplied: Christian Black )

Currently, the Mission: Impossible series has grossed over $US3.5 billion worldwide ($5.3 billion)

Cruise is famous for performing his own stunts. In 2018's Fallout, he set a record and became the first person to ever execute a high altitude low opening, or HALO, jump on film.

Shooting during a pandemic

Production on Dead Reckoning occurred during the pandemic, and that allowed the filmmakers unprecedented access to cities like Venice, Rome and Abu Dhabi. The lockdown created both difficulties and opportunities, McQuarrie said.

"I don't think we could have shot in Rome or Venice the way that we did, had we not done so during the pandemic," he said.

"Everything was a challenge. And what we do is take advantage of those challenges. We just find ways to work within them and it permeates into the movie that everything you're feeling in this movie is in part and formed by the fact that we're shooting it during the pandemic."

Hayley Atwell's Grace

Hayley Atwell, known for her role as Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe appears as new character Grace, who becomes embroiled in Ethan Hunt's mission.

Hayley Atwell and Esai Morales in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. ( Supplied: Paramount Pictures )

Atwell says it was important for her to elevate Grace so that the character wasn't a stereotype or one-dimensional.

"So there were moments when, because a lot of it was ad libbed, I made choices where she would be full of self assurance, then she'd be, you know, overwhelmed by self doubt — so what you have is a kind of character that's consistently inconsistent," Atwell said in an interview.

"The choices she makes change the trajectory of the story, at several times in the film. Therefore, she's not just reactive to what the men are doing or what Tom [Cruise] is doing. She very much has her own agency in this."

Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning — Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. ( Christian Black )

The film has been described as a farewell to Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt, but McQuarrie says that might not necessarily be the case.

"Even if I set out to end the franchise, I couldn't be sure that that's how it would end. These movies are changing all the time," McQuarrie says, adding that he would love to find a way to include Sydney as a location for Dead Reckoning Part Two.

Cruise along with Atwell, Pegg, Klementieff and McQuarrie will walk the red carpet at the film's Sydney premiere tonight.

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning releases in Australian cinemas July 8.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

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• Trivia The frequent delays caused by COVID-19 ballooned the budget to $291 million, making it the most expensive Mission: Impossible film (surpassing Fallout, $178 million), the most expensive film of Tom Cruise 's career (again surpassing Fallout), and the most expensive film ever produced by Paramount (surpassing Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) , $217 million). The insurance company Chubb originally gave Paramount only £4.4 million (about $5.4 million) for the delays, arguing that the cast and crew could still fulfill their duties to the production despite being infected with COVID-19. Paramount sued Chubb in 2021, and the two companies settled in 2022. In 2023, Chubb gave Paramount a £57 million (about $71 million) payout for the COVID-caused delays, reducing the film's budget to about $220 million, which still makes it the most expensive film for Cruise, Paramount, and the franchise.
• Goofs Steam trains, especially moving at high speeds, need to be continuously provided with fuel, in this case coal. With the engineers killed and the controls opened all the way, the locomotive would have gradually slowed down and come to a halt as the pressure in the boiler dropped. That train would never have reached the bridge for that distance with no coal provided. Since the early 1900s, when firebox coal consumption exceeded the efforts of two men, the trains have used mechanical stokers. The coal would continue feeding without one missing coal shoveler.

Ethan Hunt : [speaking in italian] Thank you officers. Please. You can wait ouside. Thank you.

[the police leave the area]

Grace : You. You did this.

Ethan Hunt : I called the police. I didn't tell them about your colorful past.

[throwing a file folder]

Ethan Hunt : That's on you. You put-pocleted that the key on another passenger before you were arrested. You exchanged details and arranged to meet later on. Right now somewhere out there hasn't the slighest clue they're holding on to that key for you. An unwitting courier. The perfect accomplice

[describing the person Grace has used as a mule to carry an item]

Ethan Hunt : I'm guessing a man... middle aged? A man waiting his whole life to be noticed by a woman like you. An orphan. Higly intelligent. Inherntly resourceful. Growing up in the poverty left you longing for the finer things. Other's people's things. Someone saw your potential and helped you hone your skills. Skills that gave you the life thought you wanted. Tailored clothes, fine dining, luxury hotels. Skills that kept you one step ahead of the law, until now.

Grace : You can't blame a girl for trying to make a dishonest living.

Ethan Hunt : You had no idea what you stealing. Otherwise you never would stolen it.

Grace : Tell you what. You get me out of here, and I'll take you straight to the key.

Ethan Hunt : I have a better idea. You're gonna tell me everything. Then I'll think about getting out of here. Now start with who hired you. And don't lie to me, because I'll know.

Grace : I have no idea who hired me. Contact with the client was almost entirely electronic.

Ethan Hunt : Email?

Grace : Texts.

Ethan Hunt : Encrypted?

Grace : Naturally.

Ethan Hunt : Almost?

Grace : Pardon?

Ethan Hunt : You said contact with client was "almost" entirely electronic.

Grace : There was a dead drop in a cafe in Luxembourg. An envelope.

Ethan Hunt : What was in the envelope?

Grace : A ticket to Abu Dhabi. And... a picture of you. My instructions were to follow you at the airport. You'd be taling a mark. Said mark would have a key and four million in criptocurrency. That drive was useless, by the way. It was empty. The only hope I have of getting paid is to deliver your half of the key.

Ethan Hunt : And you were instructed to deliever it to...

Grace : Venice. Party at Ducake Palace, Tomorrow. Midnight Venice.

Ethan Hunt : [looking at the door] You expecting someone?

Grace : Your friends from the airport. Saw them in the halleay a few minutes ago.

Ethan Hunt : You could have said something sooner.

Grace : Well, they we're chaising you, not me.

• Crazy credits Disclaimer as one of the last entries in the end credits scroll: "The Producers wish to express that in no way, shape or form were the Rome Spanish Steps used to drive a moving vehicle down. This segment of the film was re-created with a set built on a Studio backlot."
• Connections Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Most Anticipated Franchises Returning in 2023 (2023)
• Soundtracks The Mission: Impossible Theme Written by Lalo Schifrin

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• $291,000,000 (estimated)
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How to Watch the 'Mission: Impossible' Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date)

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The Big Picture

• Tom Cruise has been the face of the Mission: Impossible franchise for 25 years, playing the daring and intelligent Ethan Hunt.
• The franchise has released seven films so far, with Mission: Impossible 8 coming in summer of 2025.
• The movies can be watched in either release date order or chronological order, with each installment building upon the previous ones.

Tom Cruise helped revive a franchise in 1996 when he starred in the first Mission: Impossible film as Ethan Hunt, a member of a fictional spy agency called Impossible Missions Force, or IMF. The first film kicked off a successful movie franchise that's run for 25 years, with the number of Mission: Impossible nearing the double digits. The entire series focuses on the daring and intelligent Hunt, and while playing the same character for more than two decades is no small feat, Cruise makes the impossible look easy. While Cruise has been onboard for all of the Mission: Impossible films — seven so far, with the eighth having stopped filming due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike — the other actor who’s been by his side since day one is Ving Rhames , who plays Luther Stickell, an expert hacker at IMF and Hunt’s most trusted friend. Over the years, many great actors like Jon Voight , Philip Seymour Hoffman , and Angela Bassett have had roles in the franchise, whether as allies or antagonists to Hunt.

Thankfully, for anyone wondering how to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in chronological order or by release date, the action spy franchise isn’t as complicated as Hunt’s “impossible” missions. Here’s a straightforward guide.

Editor's Note: This article was updated on November 5, 2023.

• Mission: Impossible

An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.

Mission Impossible Movies In Order of Release Date

Here’s every film in the Mission: Impossible movie franchise, in the order they were released in:

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Mission: impossible 2 (2000), mission: impossible iii (2006).

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Mission Impossible Movies in Chronological Order of Events

The timeline of the Mission: Impossible franchise is pretty straightforward, but if you're wondering when Cruise climbed the Burj Khalifa, how many movies Ilsa Faust has been in, or who's been on Ethan Hunt's IMF team the longest, we've got you covered. Here's a breakdown of how to watch the Mission: Impossible films in chronological order and the important details to remember:

Based on the TV series of the same name that ran from 1966 to 1973, Mission: Impossible , the first film in what is now a multi-billion-dollar-earning franchise, takes the original story and turns it on its head. When a whole team of IMF agents is killed during a mission, Cruise’s Hunt is left as the only survivor. Unfortunately, surviving doesn’t do him much good, as IMF, in turn, suspects Hunt of being a mole in the organization and the one responsible for the killings. In order to prove his innocence, Hunt goes on the run in search of the real mole, intent on stopping them before they do any more damage. Along with Cruise and Rhames, Mission: Impossible also stars Voigt as Jim Phelps, one of the original series’s characters, Vanessa Redgrave as an arms dealer named Max, as well as Kristin Scott Thomas and Emilio Estevez as other major characters. Directed by Brian De Palma , the 1996 film is more of a contained, paranoid spy thriller, and ultimately, the franchise goes above and beyond the first film’s story and action sequences, but Mission: Impossible will always be the one that started it all.

Released four years after the first film, Mission: Impossible 2 , directed by John Woo, features the return of Hunt and the IMF, as Hunt is tasked with finding and disposing of a biochemical weapon called “Chimera.” The villain of this mission is a former IMF agent named Sean Ambrose, played by Dougray Scott . Other new additions to the cast are Thandiwe Newton as Nyah Nordoff-Hall, Ambrose’s ex-girlfriend who helps Hunt accomplish his task, as well as Brendan Gleeson as John C. McCloy, the CEO of Biocyte, the company that creates both the Chimera weapon and its antidote, “Bellerophon.” Ambrose aims to start a pandemic so that he can earn billions of dollars by selling the antidote, and Hunt and Nyah must secure the virus before it’s too late. The second film in the Mission: Impossible franchise ups the ante, with Hunt traveling all the way to Sydney, Australia to chase down Ambrose, and the action sequences are jam-packed in typical Woo fashion .

The third film in the Mission: Impossible franchise took a really long time to be released, with six years between 2000’s Mission: Impossible 2 and 2006’s Mission: Impossible III . The third outing for IMF agent Hunt introduces two more key characters to the story — Michelle Monaghan as Hunt's fiancée, Julia Meade, and Simon Pegg ’s Benji Dunn, an IMF technician and trusted teammate of Hunt’s. In Mission: Impossible III , Hunt attempts to retire from fieldwork and settle down with Julia, but the organization can’t seem to let him go. He is called in to rescue a kidnapped agent and stop an arms dealer named Owen Davian ( Seymour Hoffman ) from receiving a dangerous MacGuffin called the “Rabbit’s Foot.” All the while, Hunt tries to keep the secret of his real job from Julie, but despite his efforts, she gets dragged into danger anyway. Directed by J.J. Abrams , the third Mission: Impossible film also features many other fantastic actors, including Laurence Fishburne , Keri Russell , and Billy Crudup .

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

In the new decade, this is where the action franchise really hits its stride. The first Mission: Impossible film to have a subtitle, 2011’s Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol does not disappoint. After a mission goes terribly wrong, ending with the Kremlin blowing up, the U.S. government disavows IMF in what is known as the “Ghost Protocol,” leaving Hunt and his team alone and without backup. Along with Cruise, Rhames, Pegg, and Monaghan, the fourth Mission: Impossible film also stars Jeremy Renner , Paula Patton , Michael Nyqvist , and Léa Seydoux . While Hunt’s previous missions have involved traitor agents and virus weapons, this particular adventure features Hunt working to prevent a nuclear war. The stakes are higher than ever, and Hunt must overcome both physical and emotional hardships in order to do his job and save the world. The Iron Giant and Incredibles director Brad Bird made his live-action debut with Ghost Protocol , and the film is a major step up from the previous three, escalating the action set-pieces (most notably, Cruise's instantly iconic climb up the Burj Khalifa ) and introducing a more ensemble-driven approach the franchise is still embracing today.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Enter Rebecca Ferguson . Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is the fifth film in the Mission: Impossible series that never seems to stop. Alongside Alec Baldwin , Sean Harris , and Tom Hollander , this movie marks the first appearance of Ferguson's Ilsa Faust , an MI6 agent who encounters Hunt while undercover in the Syndicate crime organization; an international group of spies who went rogue. Ferguson’s character is definitely one of the most complicated of the series so far, and she adds new life and intrigue to the franchise. After Hunt is captured by the Syndicate, led by Harris’s character Solomon Lane, he is tortured for information and later escapes with Faust’s help. The Syndicate’s main goal is to reconstruct the world order through a series of violent terrorist attacks, and of course, Hunt gets blamed for the crimes, leaving him constantly on the run. It’s an age-old story. Hunt gets involved with a huge conspiracy then gets framed and must go on the run, relying on his amazing skills as an agent to take the Syndicate down before they can complete their plan. Considering that this formula has gotten the franchise this far, there’s really no reason to change it up, but director Christopher McQuarrie makes it feel fresh and new with extraordinary stunts and a deeper interest in Hunt as a character. It's no wonder that he's the only filmmaker to date to stick with the franchise for multiple sequels.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Mission: Impossible - Fallout follows Hunt, Faust, and the rest of Hunt's now-familiar team as they work to stop what’s left of the Syndicate. The organization has reformed as the Apostles, led by an unknown figure known as John Lark. After a mission to secure stolen plutonium cores doesn’t go well, Angela Bassett, finally joining the franchise as CIA Director Erika Sloane, assigns Henry Cavill ’s August Walker to oversee Hunt’s future missions. Meanwhile, an arms dealer named Alanna Mitsopolis, or the White Widow (a new character played by Vanessa Kirby ) causes trouble for Hunt and the IMF by stealing the plutonium to make a deal. According to Mitsopolis’s offer, Hunt must secure Lane (the villain from the previous movie) and deliver him to MI6, and she will give him the plutonium cores for the CIA and IMF. Of course, very little goes according to plan, as Hunt discovers that the person known as Lark is closer than he thought. Set two years after Rogue Nation , the two films’ plots are heavily intertwined, so it’s best to watch them together if you can.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

The latest chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One features even bigger stunts than ever before and adds a host of exciting new cast members, including Hayley Atwell , Pom Klementieff , Shea Whigham, Esai Morales , Indira Varma , Cary Elwes , and Mark Gatiss , among others. Christopher McQuarrie once again wrote and directed the movie and will be doing the same for MIssion: Impossible 8 . The film introduces a new threat involving a familiar face, an organization known as the Community. It is by far the biggest film in the series, both in terms of cast and scope.

What's Next?

With every new installment, the Mission: Impossible franchise gets better and better. And while Dead Reckoning Part One may just be the best it's ever been, Cruise and McQuarrie will be looking to top that with Mission: Impossible 8 . However, the film has been delayed multiple times and has undergone a quiet name change. As of now, the eighth part of Ethan Hunt's story is set to premiere on Memorial Day, May 23, 2025.

Watch the Mission: Impossible franchise on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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Everything We Know

Mission: impossible 8 : release date, story, cast & more, we break down the cast, the crew behind the film, the potential storyline carrying over from dead reckoning , and more..

TAGGED AS: Action , blockbusters , movies

(Photo by ©Paramount Pictures)

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch Ethan Hunt and the rest of the IMF attempt to save the world, picking up from the cliffhanger ending of 2023’s Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning . The eighth movie in the acclaimed action franchise will be a direct sequel to the previous film for the first time in the series’ history, meaning fans of secret agents, Tom Cruise , and epic stunts will get to see how the story concludes when the as-yet-untitled film opens in the spring of next year. Before then, here’s everything you need to know about Mission: Impossible 8 . And don’t worry — this website will not self-destruct.

What Is the New  Mission: Impossible Movie Called?

Originally, this upcoming film was meant to be titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 . However, that subtitle has been scrapped. Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the movies, announced the title change in October 2023 along with the news that the movie’s release date was being delayed a year. The reason for this has not been explicitly stated, but Dead Reckoning — which you can retroactively strip of its “Part 1” moniker — underperformed at the box office when it came out in July 2023, and it’s possible the eighth Mission: Impossible is getting a different title because they don’t want to scare away potential audiences by explicitly marking it as the Part 2 to a Part 1 that moviegoers largely skipped.

Presumably, the next Mission: Impossible will get a cool subtitle before it comes out, as the last movie to simply be numbered was Mission: Impossible III . What that will be remains to be seen.

When Will It Be Released?

(Photo by Christian Black/©Paramount Pictures)

The eighth Mission: Impossible movie was originally supposed to have been shot, edited, and released years ago, with the original premiere date being August of 2022. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both it and Dead Reckoning were significantly delayed. Mission: Impossible 8 was supposed to come out in June of 2024, but has since been delayed again to its current date of May 23, 2025.

This latest delay came as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which shut down production of the film in the summer of 2023. Filming resumed the following March.

Like all the previous Mission: Impossible entries, the eighth movie will premiere exclusively in theaters.

Who’s Directing It?

Christopher McQuarrie , the director who took Mission: Impossible to new heights starting with Rogue Nation , the fifth film in the franchise, and continued with Fallout and Dead Reckoning after that, returns for the eighth movie. As with Dead Reckoning , McQuarrie co-wrote the movie with Erik Jendresen .

Who’s in It?

Tom Cruise will, of course, return to play IMF agent extraordinaire Ethan Hunt, who he first portrayed in 1996 when the original Mission: Impossible hit theaters. He’ll be 62 when the eighth Mission: Impossible movie premieres, and it’s possible that it will be his final appearance as the character, some 30 years later.

He’ll be joined by several returning cast members, including Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames as his fellow IMF agents Benji Dunn and Luther Stickell, respectively. Hayley Atwell will reprise her role as Grace, a pickpocket who becomes embroiled in the action and eventually joins the IMF at the end of Dead Reckoning . Esai Morales returns as Dead Reckoning’ s primary villain, Gabriel, a man working on behalf of the all-powerful A.I. “Entity” that could doom the world. Also returning are Vanessa Kirby as black market arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis; Frederick Schmidt as her brother Zola; Shea Whigham as Jasper Briggs, a US Intelligence agent who spent the last movie trying to track Ethan Hunt down; Greg Tarzan Davis as his partner Degas; and Pom Klementieff as Paris, an assassin who defected from Gabriel’s employ after Ethan spared her life. Henry Czerny once more plays CIA director Eugene Kittridge, who made his return to the franchise in Dead Reckoning decades after playing the character in the first Mission: Impossible .

Mark Gatiss and Charles Parnell are reported to reprise their small roles as the heads of the NSA and NRO, and Mariela Garriga will play a woman who appeared in mysterious flashbacks linking Ethan and Gabriel. Hopefully, this next movie will explain how they know each other.

Amusingly, Rolf Saxon , last seen in the franchise as hapless CIA agent William Donloe, who was transferred to Alaska as punishment for letting Ethan Hunt break in during the first Mission: Impossible , will make his return to the franchise.

Of course, there will be new additions to the cast, as well as returning actors from Dead Reckoning . Parks & Rec’ s Nick Offerman plays Sydney, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; The Iron Claw’ s Holt McCallany plays Bernstein, the Secretary of Defense; and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham has an as-yet unrevealed role. Katy O’Brian , Janet McTeer , Lucy Tulugarjuk , and Tramell Tillman are also slated to appear.

What Happened in the Last  Mission: Impossible Film?

In Dead Reckoning , Ethan and his team were on the hunt for two high-tech keys that were the only means to control a rogue, near-omnipotent AI system known as the Entity. Every organization and nation on Earth — including the United States — wants to be able to control the Entity, prompting Ethan to go rogue in an attempt to destroy the AI rather than risk letting it fall into anybody’s hands.

Ethan’s struggle to obtain the two keys to the Entity has him cross paths with Grace, a talented thief who is tasked with stealing the keys without fully knowing the implications. Gabriel, a man who has some sort of a past with Ethan, is looking for the keys, too, and he’s working directly for the Entity on its behalf. In the struggle for the keys during a botched sale at black-market arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis’ swanky Venice Party, Ilsa Faust ( Rebecca Ferguson ), former M16 agent and Ethan’s ally and possible love interest, is killed.

In a last-ditch attempt to get both keys, Grace, now working with Ethan, impersonates Alanna on the Orient Express. Though this plan — and the train, literally — goes off the rails, Ethan is able to take possession of both keys from Gabriel, while the villain escapes. Ethan, Benji, and Luther are still going rogue, but Grace announces her intention to properly join the IMF. Meanwhile, Paris, an assassin who betrays Gabriel after Ethan saves her life, manages to tell Ethan what the keys to the Entity unlock. The AI’s intelligence is housed inside a sunken next-generation Russian submarine called the Sevastopol. Ethan’s next impossible mission? To find the Sevastopol, get inside it, and use the keys to destroy the Entity for good — unless Gabriel or anybody else stops him first.

And What Will Happen in the Next One?

There hasn’t been an official synopsis for the eighth Mission: Impossible movie, but given that it’s the first direct sequel in franchise history, we have a decent idea of the plot. Ethan Hunt and his allies will attempt to defeat Gabriel and destroy the Entity once and for all. The final showdown will likely take place aboard the sunken Sevastopol, though since Ethan has no idea where the wreck is, discovering that information should drive the early plot.

We will learn more about the plot once official images, trailers, and of course a synopsis are released.

Will There Be More Mission: Impossible Movies After This?

(Photo by Giles Keyte/©Paramount Pictures)

Dead Reckoning and this upcoming film were originally billed as a grand finale for the Ethan Hunt character. It seemed likely that the M:I franchise would continue in some form, but this could have been Cruise’s farewell. However, in June 2022, McQuarrie told Fandango that “Parts 1 & 2 are not the end of the series, and they already have ideas for what comes next.” Cruise similarly didn’t close the door during the press tour, even going so far as to say he hoped to continue making Mission: Impossible movies well into old age. Now, granted, this was before Dead Reckoning underperformed at the box office, but if the eighth Mission: Impossible is a hit, don’t be surprised if Ethan Hunt rides again.

How Long Will Mission: Impossible 8 Be?

The runtime for the eighth Mission: Impossible movie has not yet been revealed, as they have not finished making the movie. For comparison’s sake, Dead Reckoning was 163 minutes long — the longest in the franchise by a significant margin, as the rest of the movies are more or less in the 130-minute range.

Are there any trailers for it?

There are no trailers for Mission: Impossible 8 yet because they are not done making the movie.

However, it seems likely that we’ve gotten a peek at some of the action. At the 2022 CinemaCon, the premiere of the first Dead Reckoning trailer was preceded by a clip of Cruise chilling on a biplane, introducing the trailer, and then jumping off. He and director McQuarrie were filming in South Africa at the time, and since no sequence like that appeared in Dead Reckoning , consider this the closest thing we have to a sneak preview.

And Is Tom Cruise Still Doing His Own Stunts for It?

Is that a serious question? Of course Tom Cruise, who famously rode a motorcycle off a cliff for Dead Reckoning , is doing his own stunts for the sequel. Please see above.

Mission: Impossible 8 is currently scheduled to open in theaters on May 23, 2025.

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All Mission: Impossible Movies in Order Chronologically and by Release Date

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Mission: Impossible 7 Clip Goes Behind the Scenes of Tom Cruise's Speedflying Stunt

Mission: impossible - dead reckoning director reveals why it was split into two parts, the best superhero movies since avengers: endgame, ranked.

It has been more than 25 years since the first Mission: Impossible film hit theaters. The spy series has only grown more popular over the years, as evidenced by the sixth installment, Mission: Impossible - Fallout , becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise. Mission: Impossible has enjoyed an incredible lead in Tom Cruise, whose hard work has gained him recognition as one of the world's greatest movie stars.

Update October 27, 2023: This article has been updated following the release of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One and the recent delay and title change of Mission: Impossible 8.

The franchise originally showed no signs of stopping, but after the disappointing box office of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and the next entry in the franchise being delayed out of the summer movie season of 2024 into 2025, the franchise might be calling it a day soon. But with more than 25 years of Mission: Impossible films, it can be overwhelming for a newcomer to keep track of them all. Whether you're new to the franchise or have been a lifelong fan, here's a handy list of all Mission: Impossible movies in chronological and release order.

All Mission: Impossible Movies in Chronological Order

Mission: impossible (1996), mission: impossible 2 (2000), mission: impossible iii (2006), mission: impossible - ghost protocol (2011), mission: impossible - rogue nation (2015), mission: impossible - fallout (2018), mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one (2023), mission: impossible 8 (2025), mission: impossible.

The film that started it all, Mission: Impossible , was directed by Brian De Palma , the director behind Carrie , Scarface , and The Untouchables . The film introduced Cruise as Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt, who was framed for the murder of the rest of his team. It was the first Mission: Impossible film that featured the iconic sequence of Ethan descending into a vault, just barely avoiding touching the floor that would have resulted in catastrophic failure.

You can stream Mission: Impossible on Netflix and Paramount+.

Mission: Impossible 2

Mission: Impossible 2 saw Ethan Hunt embark on a new mission to stop a biological weapon from being released. Hunt teamed up with professional thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandiwe Newton), the former partner of the rogue IMF agent who possessed the weapon. Mission: Impossible 2 was the highest-grossing film in 2000, grossing more than Gladiator and Cast Away .

You can stream Mission: Impossible 2 on Netflix and Paramount+.

A Mission: Impossible 7 clip goes behind the scenes of Tom Cruise's dangerous speedflying stunt in the upcoming film.

Mission: Impossible III

Ethan came out of retirement in Mission: Impossible III when a powerful arms dealer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) emerged to threaten everything he held dear. The film introduced Michelle Monaghan as Julia Meade, a nurse who became Ethan's fiancée and, simultaneously, a target for the film's villain. Mission: Impossible III was also the film that introduced Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, who appeared in every film afterward.

You can stream Mission: Impossible III on Netflix and Paramount+

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

The fourth film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Ghost Protocol harked back to the franchise's beginnings by having Ethan blamed for another crime he did not commit. Following a mission gone wrong, the U.S. President initiated "Ghost Protocol," which ordered the immediate shutdown of the Impossible Missions Force. Ethan formed a team with Benji and new member William Brandt ( played by Jeremy Renner ) in spite of the shutdown, desperate to clear their names and prevent a nuclear war.

You can stream Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol on Netflix and Paramount+.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

2015's Rogue Nation was the first Mission: Impossible film directed and written by Christopher McQuarrie, who went on to direct and write Fallout , Dead Reckoning Part One , and the now-titled Mission: Impossible 8 . Rogue Nation featured new antagonists in The Syndicate, a terrorist organization that sought to establish a new world order. Rebecca Ferguson made her debut as Ilsa Faust in Rogue Nation , becoming one of the franchise's main characters.

You can stream Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation on fuboTV and Paramount+.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Not only was Mission: Impossible - Fallout the highest-grossing film in the franchise, but it was also the best-reviewed film in the franchise. In this installment, The Syndicate are back and planning to simultaneously explode plutonium cores over three different cities. The film reunited cast members Cruise, Ving Rhames, Pegg, Ferguson, and Michelle Monaghan. Fallout additionally starred Henry Cavill as August Walker, an ally of Ethan's who was eventually found to be the villainous John Lark.

You can stream Mission: Impossible - Fallout on Paramount+.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Read our Review:

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Review: Blockbuster Action Overcomes Long Runtime

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was Cruise's first film after the success of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022. Marketing for the seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible series saw IMF's most dangerous mission yet as Ethan comes face to face with new enemies, and a weapon that threatens the very future of the human race. Henry Czerny has reprised his role as former IMF director Eugene Kittridge after having been absent from the franchise since the first film. Vanessa Kirby has reprised her role from Mission: Impossible - Fallout as Alanna Mitsopolis / White Widow, with new cast members including Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, and Pom Klementieff.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is available for purchase and rental on PVOD.

Mission: Impossible 8

The 8th entry in the long running Mission Impossible franchise. Starring Tom Cruise and Vanessa Kirby.

Paramount originally scheduled the release of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two for Summer 2024. However, in view of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors strike, like several other long-awaited sequels , the expected release date has been pushed back to May 23, 2025. The film also reportedly will not be called Dead Reckoning Part Two and, as of this moment, is just being referred to as Mission: Impossible 8 . Variety previously reported that the film would be a "sendoff for Cruise's Ethan Hunt character," however, in June 2023, director Christopher McQuarrie told Fandango that the series would not end with Dead Reckoning (via Games Radar ).

Director Christopher McQuarrie sheds light on the decision to split Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning into two parts.

Release Dates of All Mission: Impossible Movies

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• mission impossible

Is Tom Cruise performing a stunt at the Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony?

The "mission impossible" star may be taking on his most high-profile feat yet — if rumors are true., by danielle abreu • published august 9, 2024 • updated on august 11, 2024 at 1:41 am.

From scaling a skyscraper to hanging on to the side of an airplane taking off, actor Tom Cruise is no stranger to death-defying stunts.

And the "Mission Impossible" star may be taking on his most high-profile feat yet — if rumors are true.

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Back in March, Cruise was spotted with a film crew at the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, scaling the famous landmark, People reported at the time . He was also captured on video appearing to pass a flag to someone. A spokesperson for Cruise did not respond to the outlet's requests for comment on what the actor was filming.

In late April, he was also spotted on the streets of Paris riding a motorcycle at night, before official filming for his latest "Mission Impossible" movie began. At the time, he was spotted with a film crew and carrying a white flag near the Saint-Georges metro station, the Pont de Bir-Hakeim and around the Arc de Triomphe.

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Tom Cruise était à Paris cette nuit pour le tournage de Mission Impossible 8 🎬 pic.twitter.com/vHgBNXF34l — Cine Phil 🎬 (@cinephiloff) April 26, 2024

This week, French media reported that Cruise, who is currently in Europe filming “Mission: Impossible 8” and has been spotted in the stands at several Paris Olympic events, including artistic gymnastics, swimming and track & field, will perform a stunt at the Closing Ceremony, which is set to take place at the Stade de France. Part of his performance will include pre-taped scenes.

With the next Summer Games set to take place in Los Angeles in 2028, a Hollywood connection seems fitting for an Olympic handoff from Paris.

However, organizers in Paris are tight-lipped on confirming any names, only saying it will feature “world-famous performers” along with “acrobats, dancers and circus artists.”

"An original soundtrack, new interpretations, musical performances and the participation of world-renowned singers will complete the picture," Paris organizers said in a statement. "Part of the show will take place in the air, while the giant sets, costumes and spectacular lighting effects will take spectators on a journey through time, both past and future." 

One performer that has been announced is H.E.R. The five-time Grammy winner is expected to sing the U.S. national anthem live at the Stade de France as part of the handover for the Los Angeles Summer Games.

We'll have to wait until Sunday, Aug. 11 to see who's-who among the star-studded celebrity spectacles. The Closing Ceremony will start at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT at the Stade de France.

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