This summer, Tom Cruise will return as Ethan Hunt for the seventh time in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Back in 1996, few expected Mission: Impossible to become an enduring 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 series of films that has cemented itself as one of the slickest action film series Hollywood has ever put out.
After many production difficulties, we are about to experience the seventh Mission: Impossible film in 2023.
Read more: Tom Cruise performed more than 500 skydives for the biggest stunt yet
Called Dead Reckoning Part One, it immediately follows on from the events of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and is the first of a two-part swan song for Tom Cruise’s super spy Ethan Hunt.
Here’s everything we know about Dead Reckoning so far…
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Release Date
Dead Count Part One will finally hit cinemas on July 14, 2023. Production was originally supposed to begin in February 2020, but the Covid pandemic halted the proceedings until the cameras started rolling only seven a month later.
Several reports emerging from the Dead Reckoning set from the original delay would confirm that some restrictions are in place, including a leaked audio recording of Cruise’s lambast crew members for not following Covid prevention protocol.
It would take a year and a half from when filming was supposed to begin until principal photography finally wrapped in September 2021.
Mission: Impossible – Part One director and writer Counting Dead
After writing and directing the previous two Mission: Impossible films in Fallout and 2015’s Rogue Nation, Christopher McQuarrie is back to direct Dead Reckoning.
The filmmaker has also enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Cruise, having worked with him on Jack Reacher and his critically acclaimed Top Gun: Maverick – the latter of which is currently in the running for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.
Mission: Impossible – Part One Plot Counting Dead
For a film set for a worldwide release this summer on July 14th, it’s surprising that the plot of Dead Reckoning is still in full swing as of this writing.
However, an enticing trailer was dropped back in May 2022, which revealed little of the film’s premise but showcased the thrills and antics we’ve come to know and appreciate over the years.
Watch a trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Count Part One
Since the two Dead Computer sequels are believed to be the final chapters of Hunt’s escape, there’s every chance we’ll see a few faces from his past that could pose deadly threats to his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team.
Read more: Tom Cruise’s most daring stunts
As shown explicitly in the trailer, we know that there will be at least three major pieces of action sequences that will definitely happen in Dead Reckoning: Cruise ramping off a cliff on a motorcycle before jumping out and opening a parachute, a car across the city. a chase that leaves Rome in shambles, as Cruise and Morales fight on top of the high-speed train before it hits another homage to the first film.
Watch: Go behind the scenes of Mission: Impossible Stunt 7
Cruise said the motorcycle stunt was “by far the most dangerous thing” they’ve ever attempted, leaving little doubt that more rip-off sequences will be revealed when the official trailer drops closer to Dead Reckoning’s release.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One cast
Joining Cruise’s Hunt is his core cast of tech whiz Luther Stickell and fellow field agent Benji Dunn (Pulp Fiction’s Ving Rhames and Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg respectively), with Dunne’s Rebecca Ferguson returning as ex-MI6 operative Ilsa Faust.
The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby reprises her role as Alanna Mitsopolis, a mysterious arms dealer who steals 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 replaces Nicholas Hoult (The Menu ) as the film’s main antagonist.
Perhaps the most notable cast addition to date is Henry Czerny, who reunites with Cruise’s Hunt as ex-IMF director Eugene Kittridge – a character we haven’t seen since the first film back in 1996. Czerny’s Kittridge is certainly an interesting one. Dead reckoning, and all signs point to him playing an important role in connecting the dots to Hunt’s historical past.
After cementing itself in the pantheon of groundbreaking action franchises over the years, the Mission: Impossible film series is on its way to releasing another winner in Dead Reckoning Part One.
With Part Two set for release next year, expect more questions to be answered in the coming months that are sure to excite adrenaline junkies looking for more classics from Cruise and death-defying company.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will hit theaters on July 14, 2023. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two will be released on June 28, 2024.