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Movie Review | 'Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol'

Falling Off Skyscrapers Sometimes Hurts a Bit

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By Manohla Dargis

• Dec. 15, 2011

What makes Tom Cruise run — run harder and run faster, leaping from one building and dangling off another, the world’s tallest — as he does to exhausting, unnerving effect in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” his latest exercise in extreme performance? The fourth in the franchise, this “Mission” has a solid cast, including a notable new co-star in Jeremy Renner; a new director, Brad Bird; and a story that’s as nonsensical as any in the series. Mostly, though, it has Mr. Cruise hurtling through the movie as if his life depended on it, which, to judge by the hard line of his jaw, his punishingly fit body and the will etched into his every movement, may be what’s at stake.

It’s fitting that Mr. Bird, the director of the Pixar movies “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” has taken over the reins of the franchise for his live-action directing debut. The “Mission: Impossible” movies belong to that outlandish, sometimes cartoonish class of action adventures in which lesser, Bond-like heroes walk or race from fiery explosions in between locking and loading, kissing and killing, and killing some more. The films, spun off the 1960s television show, fondly remembered for its rubber masks and Lalo Schifrin’s brilliant, pulsating theme music, added Mr. Cruise, who in the 15 years since the first installment has tumbled from his top spot as the world’s biggest movie star to lag behind neo-action figures like Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp.

Mr. Cruise may be somewhat down (certainly his smile has dimmed), yet he’s scarcely out. That’s partly because of Mr. Bird, who has given this movie a self-aware levity that’s intended to clear away the bummer blues of the last “Mission,” five years ago. Directed by J. J. Abrams, who is also a producer of this movie, the third film skewed the series too dark with a nihilistic baddie (chilled to shivering by Philip Seymour Hoffman) and a nightmarish torture scene. It also burdened Mr. Cruise’s character, Ethan Hunt, with a wife (Michelle Monaghan), an unwise move — American action heroes, latter-day fantasies of our native rugged individualism, walk alone, not down the aisle — which suggested that the soon-to-be-remarried Mr. Cruise was borrowing a chapter from his own life.

The new movie, written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, both alumni of Mr. Abrams’s television show “Alias” (mostly), ditches the wife and gets back to action basics with globe-trotting, nifty gadgets, high-flying stunts and less loquacious villainy (Michael Nyqvist). (It was also partly shot in Imax, which doesn’t really enhance anything.)

Ethan, after being broken out of a Moscow prison, where he had been idling among hordes of bull-necked Ivans and Igors, sets off on another mission with an old teammate, the tech whiz Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and the obligatory pretty lady, Agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton). The mission goes bust and boom, as does a debriefing with Ethan’s boss (Tom Wilkinson, uncredited), whose murder finds Ethan and his team blackballed (if still sleuthing) and keeping company with an intelligence analyst, William Brandt (Mr. Renner).

Mr. Renner, who played the main bomb specialist in “The Hurt Locker,” eases effortlessly into the blockbuster register, where star charisma and presence like Mr. Cruise’s matter more than emotionally selling a scene. Mr. Renner has to do some actual acting because of the role (surprise: there’s more to Brandt than a suit), and his low-key performance is a dividend in a movie in which almost all human interactions take exaggerated form, with more throttling than talking, or so it seems. Mr. Renner isn’t an obvious action type — he’s good-looking rather than roguish or boyishly pretty — but as soon as he rolls up his sleeves and picks up a gun, it’s obvious that he’s qualified for the job.

For his part, Mr. Cruise seems comfortable resuming his franchise duties, though there’s a palpable difference in his affect, even from the last movie. He still radiates intensity bordering on mania, but without the familiar “what, me worry?” air of invincibility. Maybe it’s age: he turns 50 next year, or perhaps Mr. Bird’s approach doesn’t sit well with him, even if it also fits. The wolfish Cruise smile seems tighter, at times reluctant, despite Mr. Bird’s efforts to lighten the mood with banter (much of it supplied by a chattering Mr. Pegg). Over the years Mr. Cruise, a divinely superficial presence in pop fodder like “Top Gun,” has grown progressively heavier, weighted down by stardom, ambition and the misstep of turning his personal life into a public drama. At times he can feel leaden.

Unexpectedly, though, his age and inescapable gravitas work for “Ghost Protocol,” partly because they invest the outrageous stunts with a real sense of risk. Mr. Cruise’s primary job in the “Mission” series is to embody a not-quite-ordinary man whose powers are at once extraordinary and completely believable, a no-sweat feat in the first few films.

Here, however, when Ethan ziplines off a building onto a truck and then rolls hard onto the street, Mr. Bird — while borrowing more than a little from the “Roadrunner” cartoons — also makes you aware of the fragility of the body ricocheting on screen, absorbing every blow for your entertainment. And when Mr. Cruise hangs off the even taller building , what you see isn’t just a man doing a crazy stunt but also one poignantly denying his own mortality.

“Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Largely bloodless, if at times extreme, violence, including gunplay and a fatal push from a skyscraper. Those with acrophobia beware.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE

Ghost Protocol

Opens on Friday at Imax theaters nationwide.

Directed by Brad Bird; written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, based on the television series created by Bruce Geller; director of photography, Robert Elswit; edited by Paul Hirsch; music by Michael Giacchino, “Mission: Impossible” theme composed by Lalo Schifrin; production design by Jim Bissell; costumes by Michael Kaplan; produced by Tom Cruise, J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 2 hours 13 minutes.

WITH: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Jeremy Renner (Brandt), Simon Pegg (Benji), Paula Patton (Jane), Michael Nyqvist (Hendricks), Vladimir Mashkov (Sidorov), Josh Holloway (Hanaway), Anil Kapoor (Brij Nath), Léa Seydoux (Sabine Moreau) and Tom Wilkinson (I.M.F. Secretary).

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It has been claimed that Cruise "insisted on doing his stunts himself." Say what? The character Ethan Hunt is seen like a human fly clinging to glass, thousands of feet in the air, and you're telling me we aren't looking at CGI? If that's really Tom Cruise , he seems like a suitable case for treatment.

If it is or isn't, this movie's Burj Khalifa action sequence is one of the most spellbinding stretches of film I've seen. In the way it's set up, photographed and edited, it provided me and my vertigo with scary fascination. The movie has other accomplished set pieces as well. It opens with Ethan Hunt's breakout from a Russian prison. There is a staggering fight scene inside a space-age parking garage where moving steel platforms raise and lower cars, and the fighters jump from one level to another. There's a clever scene in the vaults of the Kremlin Archives in which a virtual reality illusion is used to fool a guard. And a scene at a fancy Mumbai party in which Indian star Anil Kapoor thinks he's seducing MI team member Jane ( Paula Patton ) in an elaborately choreographed diversionary technique.

Ethan and Jane are joined by Mission mates Brandt ( Jeremy Renner ) and Benji ( Simon Pegg ) in an attempt to foil a madman named Hendricks ( Michael Nyqvist ), who has gained control of a satellite and possession of Russian nuclear codes, and wants to start a nuclear war. His reason, as much as I understand it, is that life on Earth needs to be annihilated once in a while so it can get a fresh start, and Hendricks is impatient waiting for a big asteroid to come along in his lifetime.

The movie benefits greatly from the well-defined performances of the Mission team. Cruise, hurting from the death of his wife (remember her in the third MI picture?), plays a likable man of, shall we say, infinite courage. Simon Pegg, with his owl face and petulance, is funny as Benji the computer genius, one of those guys who can walk into the Burj Khalifa with a laptop and instantly grab control of its elevators and security cameras. Paula Patton is an appealing Jane, combining sweet sexiness with vicious hand-to-hand fighting techniques. And Jeremy Renner's Brandt, entering the plot late as an "analyst" for the IMF secretary ( Tom Wilkinson ), is revealed to have a great many extra-analytical skills.

Brandt and Benji have a scene that reaches a new level of action goofiness even for a " Mission: Impossible " movie. Brandt's mission, and Ethan makes it clear he has to accept it, is to wear steel mesh underwear and jump into a ventilating shaft with wicked spinning fan blades at the bottom. Benji will halt his fall with a little mobile magnet at the bottom of the shaft, so Brandt can break into massive computers. Renner does an especially nice job of seeming very scared when he does this.

The movie has an unexpected director: Brad Bird , the maker of such great animated films as " The Iron Giant ," " The Incredibles " and " Ratatouille ." Well, why not? Animation specializes in action, and his films are known for strong characterization. You'd think he'd been doing thrillers for years.

Now I want to get back to Tom Cruise, who we left clinging to the side of the Burj Khalifa, allegedly doing his own stunts. I'm not saying he didn't. No doubt various unseen nets and wires were also used, and at least some CGI. Whatever.

I remember a story Clint Eastwood told me years ago, after he made " The Eiger Sanction " (1975). There's a scene in the movie where Clint's character dangles in mid-air at the end of a cable hanging from a mountain. He's thousands of feet up. Clint, who also directed, did the scene himself.

"I didn't want to use a stunt man," he said, "because I wanted to use a telephoto lens and zoom in slowly all the way to my face — so you could see it was really me. I put on a little disguise and slipped into a sneak preview of the film to see how people liked it. When I was hanging up there in the air, the woman in front of me said to her friend, 'Gee, I wonder how they did that?' and her friend said, 'Special effects.'"

Note: I should add that I saw the film in the IMAX format. Wow. The skyscraper scene had incredible impact.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol (2011)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence

133 minutes

Paula Patton as Jane

Michael Nyqvist as Hendricks

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt

Simon Pegg as Benji

Jeremy Renner as Brandt

• Josh Appelbaum
• Andre Nemec

Directed by

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Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – review

A fter a rash of red-baiting anti-communist films in the early 1950s, the popular cinema of the English-speaking world largely abandoned communist villains in favour of conspiratorial freelance crooks (like "Spectre" in the Bond movies) and trouble-making renegades. This canny practice continues, and in the fourth big-screen spin-off of long-running TV espionage series Mission: Impossible the villain is Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), a deranged Swedish nuclear scientist trying to create a third world war by fomenting conflict between the United States and Russia. The plot is much the same as that in the latest Sherlock Holmes picture, though the aim here is the quite literal end of civilisation as we know it so that a newly cleansed world can open up for mankind.

This is the best movie in the franchise since Brian de Palma launched it in 1996, and the director is Brad Bird, an animator by training, who made Pixar's Ratatouille and The Incredibles . Here he has a budget large enough and an Imax screen wide enough to allow him to do anything he fancies. In consequence the movie is visually remarkable as it tries to keep up with the frenetic activities of secret agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise accepting an impossible mission for the fourth time) and his new trio of likable operatives: beautiful, resourceful Paula Patton, pawky computer wizard Simon Pegg and constantly fretting analyst Jeremy Renner.

With an ultra-violent pre-credit sequence in Budapest and a brief, sentimental coda in Seattle, the picture moves from an ingenious jail break in Moscow to Dubai and thence to Mumbai, and there are chases and shoot-outs as Hunt's team use their state-of-the-art equipment and considerable ingenuity to frustrate Hendricks. Two sequences are breathtaking. The first is an explosion that blows up half of the Kremlin. The second sees Cruise clinging to the plate-glass and stainless steel surface of the 130th floor of Dubai's Burj Khalifa tower, the world's tallest building, with only a pair of adhesive gloves to stop him falling. Bird manages the escalations from the preposterous through the more preposterous to the most preposterous with skill and wit, but there isn't much time for developing complex relationships when you're constantly accepting missions to save the world.

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How to Watch the 'Mission: Impossible' Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date)

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch one of the best action franchises of all time.

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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Mission: Impossible

Where to watch.

Watch Mission: Impossible with a subscription on Peacock, Paramount+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Full of special effects, Brian DePalma's update of Mission: Impossible has a lot of sweeping spectacle, but the plot is sometimes convoluted.

Audience Reviews

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Brian De Palma

Henry Czerny

Ving Rhames

Kristin Scott Thomas

Sarah Davies

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Mission: Impossible (film series)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_(film_series) 1. Mission: Impossible (1996) 2. Mission: Impossible II (2000) 3. Mission: Impossible III (2006) 4. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) 5. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) 6. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

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• IMDb Rating
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1. Mission: Impossible (1996)

PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

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

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jon Voight , Emmanuelle Béart , Henry Czerny

Votes: 470,322 | Gross: $180.98M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_(film)

2. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt is sent to Sydney to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called "Chimera".

Director: John Woo | Stars: Tom Cruise , Dougray Scott , Thandiwe Newton , Ving Rhames

Votes: 377,715 | Gross: $215.41M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_2

3. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancée in response.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Tom Cruise , Michelle Monaghan , Ving Rhames , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 390,754 | Gross: $134.03M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_III

4. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg , Paula Patton

Votes: 528,451 | Gross: $209.40M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_%E2%80%93_Ghost_Protocol

5. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan and his team take on their most impossible mission yet when they have to eradicate an international rogue organization as highly skilled as they are and committed to destroying the IMF.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rebecca Ferguson , Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg

Votes: 410,962 | Gross: $195.04M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_%E2%80%93_Rogue_Nation

6. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

PG-13 | 147 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Henry Cavill , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 378,162 | Gross: $220.16M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Impossible_%E2%80%93_Fallout

7. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

PG-13 | 163 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

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

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 246,966 | Gross: $172.14M

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The Mission: Impossible Movies In Order And How To Watch Them Streaming

Your (streaming) mission, if you choose to accept it...

It’s hard to think of a better modern action series than what we’ve seen with the Mission: Impossible franchise, one that sees Tom Cruise and company continue to up the ante with each new movie. And with the release of Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , it’s safe to say there are more eyes on spy-action property than ever before. 

Starting with the release of the first set of adventures featuring IMF agent Ethan Hunt and his ragtag group of expert hackers, operatives, and government officials back in 1996 all the way to the most recent entry to the saga, we’ve provided a quick rundown (if you choose to accept it) of how you can go about watching all of the Mission: Impossible movies streaming. From dropping into CIA headquarters in Langley to skydiving through a thunderstorm in Paris , there’s a lot to go over here. 

Mission: Impossible (1996)

When an operation in Prague leads to the death of nearly every member of an Impossible Mission Force team, the only surviving member, Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise ), becomes his agency's prime suspect. Brian De Palma’s 1996 spy thriller Mission: Impossible follows as the disavowed agent puts together a team of outcasts to find the person, or persons, responsible for the framing him for a crime he did not commit while also trying to protect the identities of the spies on the compromised disk sought out by the mysterious arms dealer named Max (Vanessa Redgrave) that was at the center of the failed operation. Stream Mission: Impossible on Paramount+. Rent Mission: Impossible on Amazon.  

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

When a rogue IMF agent by the name of Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) steals a deadly virus with plans to unleash it into the world before selling the antidote to the highest bidder, Ethan Hunt puts together a team consisting of his old pal Luther Stickell ( Ving Rhames ) and notorious thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall ( Thandiwe Newton ) to stop a global pandemic in the making. Although not as tight of a movie as its predecessor, John Woo’s Mission: Impossible 2 is an action spectacle with some of the most hard-to-believe stunts at the time of its release, and a sign of things to come for Tom Cruise and his desire to one-up himself with each subsequent film, even if the stress gets the best of him . Stream Mission: Impossible 2 on Paramount+. Rent Mission: Impossible 2 on Amazon.  

Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)

Directed by J.J. Abrams , Mission: Impossible III (which celebrated its 15th anniversary in May 2021 ) follows Ethan Hunt as his retirement from field duty is cut short to track down an arms and information broker Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) before he can sell “The Rabbit’s Foot,” a deadly and mysterious object that could potentially kill millions. To make matters worse for Hunt and his team, which includes a returning Luther Stickell and IMF newcomer Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), the job becomes personal when Ethan’s fiancée Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan) becomes part of the maniacal Davian’s plan. Stream Mission: Impossible III on Paramount+. Rent Mission: Impossible 3 on Amazon.  

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)

The Mission: Impossible franchise reached new heights with Brad Bird ’s 2011 effort Ghost Protocol . When Ethan Hunt and the rest of his IMF team are framed for a bombing at the Kremlin during one of their investigations, the group of top-notch spies are forced to work on their own (and avoid capture) while pursuing a mysterious figure named “Cobalt” (Michael Nyqvist) before he can use nuclear launch codes to bring chaos and destruction to the world. Filled with one insane stunt after another, the franchise’s fourth installment once again shows just how far Tom Cruise is willing to push himself for the sake of a movie, especially when climbing the Burj Khalifa in the franchise’s best action sequence so far. Stream Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol on Paramount+. Rent Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol on Amazon.  

Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)

Directed by franchise newcomer Christopher McQuarrie , the 2015 spy adventure film Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation follows Ethan Hunt and his small team of returning IMF agents are tasked with the impossible: prove the existence of the mysterious organization known as the Syndicate while also stopping the group’s leader before it’s too late. The entire situation is made all the more complicated with the arrival of Ilsa Faust ( Rebecca Ferguson ), an MI6 agent working undercover in the terrorist organization who can’t be entirely trusted by Hunt and his team. The start of the McQuarrie era of the series, Rogue Nation helps establish a new chapter for the popular franchise.

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Stream Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation on Paramount+ Rent Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation on Amazon.  

Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)

Mission: Impossible — Fallout , the most successful movie in the franchise to-date, according to BoxOfficeMojo , sticks with most of Ethan Hunt’s IMF team from its predecessor (besides the absence of Jeremy Renner ’s William Brandt) as well as concepts and storylines started several years later. Released in the summer of 2018 and once-again directed by Christopher McQuarrie , the sixth film in the series follows Hunt and his team as they attempt to uncover plutonium stolen by former members of the Syndicate hellbent on bringing utter and complete destruction to many of the world’s cultural cornerstones. To make matters worse for Hunt and his team, the operative’s past mistakes and past relationships are used against him as he sets out to complete a mission in one of the best action movies of all time . Stream Mission: Impossible – Fallout on Paramount+. Rent Mission: Impossible — Fallout on Amazon.  

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

In July 2023, the most daring, and possibly most consequential, addition to the franchise was released with the debut of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One . The first chapter in a saga that could very well be the end of the road for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, this epic action film saw the IMF team face off with a cold, calculated, and all-knowing artificial intelligence known as the Entity that has gone rogue.

New and old friends, as well as an assortment of enemies, all come into play in this exciting action movie that deals with everything from power and control to what it means to be family (as well as its price).

Stream Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One on Paramount+. Rent/Buy Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One on Amazon.

Mission: Impossible’s Director Reveals The ‘Unsung Strength Of Tom Cruise’ That Makes These Films Great

Over the course of the past 27 years, Tom Cruise and the rest of the players behind the Mission: Impossible franchise have continued to up the ante in terms of scope, story, and most of all, stunts. If you want to see the series in all its glory in the highest possible definition, there is always the Mission: Impossible 4K 6-movie collection available on Amazon. 

As you can probably tell by now, a Paramount+ subscription is going to be your best bet to watch the Mission: Impossible movies streaming, and the service will undoubtedly be home to Dead Reckoning Part One in the near future. By the time that happens, we’ll probably be getting all geared up for the release of Mission: Impossible 8 in 2025.

Philip grew up in Louisiana (not New Orleans) before moving to St. Louis after graduating from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. When he's not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop barking at the mailman, or chatting about professional wrestling to his wife. Writing gigs with school newspapers, multiple daily newspapers, and other varied job experiences led him to this point where he actually gets to write about movies, shows, wrestling, and documentaries (which is a huge win in his eyes). If the stars properly align, he will talk about For Love Of The Game being the best baseball movie of all time.

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All of Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible" movies, ranked from worst to best

• Tom Cruise has starred in seven "Mission: Impossible" movies since 1992.
• The actor recently reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in 2023's "Dead Reckoning Part One."
• Here are all of the "Mission: Impossible" movies, ranked from worst to best.

7. "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000)

"Mission: Impossible 2" should be given way more love than it gets — mainly because Hong Kong cinema legend John Woo helmed it. Yes, the "Hard Boiled" and "Bullet in the Head" director brought his signature bullet ballet style to the "Mission: Impossible" sequel, with all the slow-motion flair you could ask for.

Is it cheesy? Sure. Does the script need some work? Definitely. Is there any smart subtext or meaning underneath all the action? Absolutely not. This is a peak 2000s action movie, and it knows it. 

"Mission: Impossible 2" is so over the top that once you've made peace with it, it's best to just go along for the ride. Come on, Tom Cruise and Dougray Scott play motorbike chicken with each other before a mid-air tackle sends them both crashing to the ground… What's not to love? It's the type of vehicular chaos that Dominic Toretto would be proud of.

Even so, "Mission: Impossible 2" ranks at the bottom of the bunch.

6. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (2011)

The 2011 film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" takes the franchise into the modern era. It follows Ethan Hunt and his team as they're forced to go on the run when they're framed for bombing the Kremlin.

It quickly becomes a race to stop nuclear strategist Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), who wants to start a nuclear war so that only the strongest members of humanity will survive. 

It's this plot that keeps "Ghost Protocol" from ascending the list, because, as spy thrillers go, stopping a nuclear war feels predictable, and the film fails to do anything unique with the premise. Plus, there's nothing particularly extraordinary about Hendricks as a villain.

But generic plot devices aside, the film features some brilliant fights and gripping set pieces. The stand-out moment is when Cruise's hero climbs the Burj Khalifa in Dubai with nothing but sticky gloves and rope.

It's a nail-biting scene, especially when the gloves begin to fail and Hunt must stop himself from tumbling off the side of the building. 

One of the most surprising elements of the film is Jeremy Renner 's William Brandt, a disgraced former agent who's grappling with the guilt of failing Ethan on a former mission. That sub-plot works very well amongst the rest of the action, and it's a clever way of injecting a bit of heart into the mission.

5. "Mission: Impossible 3" (2006)

Two words: JJ Abrams . The "Lost" and "Fringe" creator took to the big screen in 2006 with "Mission: Impossible 3," which takes a mid-noughties approach to the Impossible Mission Force and gives it a brutal edge.

The sequel pits Ethan, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Zhen (Maggie Q), and Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) against nefarious arms dealer Owen Davian, played by the incomparable Phillip Seymour Hoffman .

Part of what elevates "Mission: Impossible 3" from previous films is that it never actually explains what Ethan and the gang are chasing. It's known only by its mysterious codename, the Rabbit's Foot. It could be an infectious disease, a computer virus, a hard drive teeming with currency, or nuclear codes… And that's what makes it so compelling. 

It's also refreshing to see Ethan settled and in love with Michelle Monahan's Julia Meade. What does married life look like for a superspy? How does that complicate his responsibility to save the world? 

The sequel feels very busy, as Abrams packs a lot into a tight two-hour run time. And some beats don't quite work, like Ethan's dynamic with his young mentee Lindsay Farris (played by Keri Russell). But there are some stellar sequences throughout, like the ballistic shoot-out on the bridge — which is an eye-popping piece of action choreography.

4. "Mission: Impossible" (1996)

Taken from the 1966 TV series of the same name, 1996's "Mission: Impossible" introduces Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) as he works for Jim Phelps ( Jon Voight ), the main character from the show. 

It has audiences instantly on their toes when Ethan's entire team, and Phelps, are assassinated by a double agent in the opening — and the hero goes on the run after being framed for their deaths.

"Mission: Impossible" earned itself a place in cinema history thanks to the brilliantly intense break-in scene, where Cruise is suspended on wires while hacking a CIA mainframe computer.

And of course, the high-octane ending on top of the channel tunnel train is a pulse-pounding affair set to the iconic theme music. 

Cruise effortlessly brings Hunt to life alongside top-notch performances from Voight, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ving Rhames , which really help sell the paranoid atmosphere that director Brian De Palma bakes into the adventure.

3. "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (2015)

"Rogue Nation" is where frequent Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie properly put his stamp on the franchise, and he expands the world in a fascinating way with the introduction of the Syndicate, a vast organization made up of rogue agents from every intelligence agency on the planet.

Their mission (should they choose to accept it) is to create disorder and chaos to destabilize the global intelligence community, although their true goals don't become apparent until 2018's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." Hunt is determined to root out the Syndicate, and its sinister leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

"Rogue Nation" also introduces Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a murky British agent who has a delicious will-they-won't-they dynamic with Cruise's hero.

A brawl in the rigging above an opera stage in Vienna is a stunning highlight, as is Cruise's dive into a submerged computer program. Cruise actually broke the world record for holding his breath for six minutes while completing that stunt in 2014.

2. "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" (2023)

"Dead Reckoning Part One" sees Hunt's IMF team chasing a key that will lead them to an unstoppable AI that could wreak havoc on the world if left unchecked.

And, of course, every government agency in the world wants to get their hands on it — so Hunt and his team are effectively on the run from everyone. 

"Dead Reckoning's" focus on AI gives it a grounding in the real world, but the film also continues to elevate the sheer scale of action that audiences have come to expect from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. 

That jaw-dropping mountain jump in the movie's climax has to be seen to be believed, and it only gets more bonkers after that.

It's a testament to Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie that MI films continue to feel fresh and new — even though "Dead Reckoning's" script does drag on at points. 

Then again, audiences are coming to see Cruise throw himself off a mountain, not to hear Oscar-winning dialogue.

Let's hope "Dead Reckoning Part Two" is just as fun.

1. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (2018)

There's no question that Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" is the best movie in the franchise, which is saying something considering it's the sixth outing for Hunt and the gang. 

It continues the Syndicate storyline from "Rogue Nation" and dives further into Solomon Lane's (Sean Harris) world-threatening scheme. He wants to destabilize the world by irradiating the Siachen Glacier, which supplies water to India, Pakistan, and China. This would kill off a third of the world's population and drastically change society in the process.  

But the bulk of the story revolves around a CIA and IMF mole who goes by the codename 'John Lark.'

The hunt to find this rogue agent crosses the world, introducing the likes of Henry Cavill's CIA agent August Walker and Vanessa Kirby's underworld matriarch, Alanna Mitsopolis. 

The scope of McQuarrie's movie is massive, and its huge stunts mirror that size. A gobsmacking scene sees Hunt dive with Walker from a plane and parachute into Paris. Cruise shot the stunt alongside a cameraman to properly capture the chaotic dive . 

Then, of course, there's the film's exhilarating helicopter chase through a New Zealand mountain range — just another example of McQuarrie and Cruise's commitment to filming these stunts in the most jaw-dropping way possible.

"Fallout" is a thrilling chapter of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise that deepens the audience's understanding of Cruise's hero while delivering a stunning cinematic experience.

• Main content

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

The Mission: Impossible franchise is one of the best in the action genre. Here's how to watch the films in chronological and release order.

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+.

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

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 ).

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Director Reveals Why It Was Split Into Two Parts

Release dates of all mission: impossible movies.

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All Mission: Impossible Movies, Ranked By Tomatometer

“Hey, Tom. Paramount here. Yes, the studio. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a new summer franchise out of a 30-year-old TV show, and have it virtually improve with each sequel over 20 years…”

And so Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt has halo-jumped, rock-climbed, motorcycle-duelled, and face mask-revealed his way across dozens of countries to unravel all manner of world threats in the Mission: Impossible movies. He’s had help along the way, featuring a cast of series veterans, like Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, and occasional players like Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton. Hunt hasn’t had too much help from the IMF, though, considering how many times they think their star employee has gone rogue.

A trademark for most of Mission: Impossible ‘s lifespan was bringing in a new director for each entry, ranging from John Woo to Brad Bird to Brian De Palma, giving each entry a unique spin. But Since Rogue Nation , Cruise (who also produces) has found a perfect collaborator in Christopher McQuarrie. He was the first to direct two M:I s in a row, with Fallout raking in the series’ best box office and critical marks. And McQuarrie is directing the next two films: Dead Reckoning – Part One releases this Friday, with Part Two  out June 28, 2024.

Before we see what death-defying hijinks they get into next (we don’t think Ethan’s been to the moon yet), we’re ranking all Mission: Impossible movies by Tomatometer! — Alex Vo

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) 96%

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) 97%

Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) 94%

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) 93%

Mission: Impossible III (2006) 71%

Mission: Impossible (1996) 66%

Mission: Impossible II (2000) 56%

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Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' takes in $235 million in first 5 days

About $80 million of 'dead reckoning' box office sales were domestic: data.

Movie theaters are important part of film entertainment ecosystem: Marcus

The Marcus Corp. CEO Greg Marcus previews the summer movie season after theater stocks experienced a recent boost on "The Claman Countdown."

Box office data has come in for the first five days since "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" debuted to moviegoers.

The Christopher McQuarrie-directed film bringing actor Tom Cruise back as spy Ethan Hunt for the seventh time saw a global box office gross of $235 million in the five-day time span from July 12 to Sunday, according to data from IMDb site Box Office Mojo . That figure includes roughly $80 million that reportedly came from domestic ticket sales and $155 million from international. 

Paramount Pictures had forecast ahead of its release that "Dead Reckoning Part One" would bring in at least $250 million in five days.

Tom Cruise attends the U.K. premiere of "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on June 22, 2023, in London. (Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images for Paramount Pictures / Getty Images)

Domestically, the total amount that "Dead Reckoning Part One" made during its opening July 14-16 weekend was an estimated $56.2 million, Box Office Mojo found. Data from the site indicated the spy movie did the best out of those three days on Saturday, generating an estimated $21.4 million in the U.S. and Canada.

HARRISON FORD'S FINAL ‘INDIANA JONES’ MOVIE ONLY PULLED IN $60 MILLION OPENING WEEKEND

Comscore reported that three-day domestic gross landed it first place for the weekend.

Other movies in the top five for the domestic weekend included "Sound of Freedom" at $27 million, "Insidious: The Red Door" at $13 million, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" at $12 million and "Elemental" at $8.7 million, according to Comscore. "Elemental" from Disney has been out the longest of the five, garnering a total of nearly $311.7 million worldwide since mid-June, the media analytics company found.

ANGEL STUDIOS' ‘SOUND OF FREEDOM’ PASSES $50 MILLION AT US BOX OFFICE

That data comes as the box office during this summer has been slower compared to the prior year’s, according to reports.

"We have worked on this film for years and it’s finally in theaters," Cruise tweeted about "Dead Reckoning Part One" the day after its release. "We hope you love it as much as we loved making it for you. Thank you for continuing to support the Mission: Impossible films."

As of late last month, the prior six movies in the "Mission: Impossible" series have churned out $3.57 billion in lifetime box office grosses, IMDb previously told FOX Business. For only domestic box offices, the company said it was $1.55 billion.

Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell are shown during the filming of "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" on Oct. 6, 2020, in Rome. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

"Mission: Impossible - Fallout" did the largest worldwide gross of the six preceding films in the franchise, totaling about $791.1 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Its domestic box office for its opening weekend came in at $61.2 million.

‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’: WHAT HAS TOM CRUISE-LED FRANCHISE BROUGHT IN AT BOX OFFICE?

The follow-up to the latest "Mission: Impossible" movie – "Dead Reckoning Part Two" – is still in the works, with its anticipated release date falling next year, according to reports. That film will likely feature numerous stunts like "Dead Reckoning Part One," which videos posted by Paramount Pictures showed a fight on the top of a train as it was moving and a jump off a cliff on a motorcycle.

Screen Rant

This 20-year-old tom cruise movie can lay the blueprint for his future after mission: impossible.

Tom Cruise won’t be able to do Mission: Impossible movies forever, but one of his old movies may have paved the way for his acting future.

• Tom Cruise's action star status faces a challenge as he ages, so exploring villain roles could be the key to his future success after Mission: Impossible .
• A return to the character depth of his role in Collateral could provide Cruise with exciting new opportunities in his career.
• Practical stunt work sets Cruise apart in action films, but taking on antagonistic roles could help him stay relevant in the industry.

Tom Cruise has been a movie star for over forty years, and one of his most underrated films could be the key to the next phase of his career after Mission: Impossible . Cruise, in his most recent star era, has become synonymous with daring stunt work and large action set pieces in his blockbuster films. The two most notable examples are his long-running Mission: Impossible franchise, which is currently filming its eighth installment, and Top Gun: Maverick , which was the highest-grossing film of 2022 .

In many ways, Cruise is as popular as he's ever been and remains one of the last examples of a true movie star. There's just one issue he faces, and it's one that will only get worse with time: he's now in his 60s. He's still in amazing shape for his age and can still perform all the stunts his action roles require of him. Yet, at a certain point, Cruise just won't be able to physically accomplish these feats anymore , and the question will arise of what he will do to define the next era of his career.

10 Movies That Defined Tom Cruise's Career

Tom cruise should follow collateral's blueprint after mission: impossible.

The answer regarding a future after Mission: Impossible lies with one of Cruise's most memorable roles as the cold-blooded hitman Vincent in Michael Mann's Collateral . Collateral follows a single night in the life of cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx), who is forced to transport Vincent around L.A. as he crosses off targets on his hit list. The film doesn't just feature excellent action scenes but also a fascinating back-and-forth between the two leads. Many long exchanges of dialogue happen within Max's cab, and the audience sees him and Vincent argue philosophically about the value of human life and their differing ideologies.

Cruise's movie star charisma brought layers of charm to Vincent's sociopathic demeanor

Cruise had to train for Collateral since it was an unexpected role, as the actor had never played the main villain of a film before, and to this day hasn't done it again since. The uniqueness of this notion paid off, as Collateral proved to be a healthy hit. It grossed $220 million worldwide from an estimated $65 million budget (via Box Office Mojo ). Cruise's movie star charisma brought layers of charm to Vincent's sociopathic demeanor, and it is still widely considered one of the best performances of Cruise's long and illustrious career. A return to this type of role would be an exciting prospect for the actor.

Every Michael Mann Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

Villain roles can help tom cruise stay relevant.

As Cruise gets older, it'll become more challenging for him to remain at the center of these action franchises. Unlike films like Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny , which heavily relied on CGI to assist 81-year-old Harrison Ford with the action scenes, Cruise's movies use their practical stunt work as a selling point. Top Gun: Maverick had Cruise flying real jets , and Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One had him jumping off a massive cliff on a motorcycle. Too much CGI would cheapen the impact of these stunts, which have become a big part of Cruise's brand.

However, if Cruise takes on more antagonistic parts in movies like Collateral going forward, h e could not only avoid putting his body at risk in as many huge stunts but also access an untapped well of potential film roles . Cruise would still be a selling point in whatever franchise he chooses to be a part of, and he'd be able to explore the darkness he displayed as Vincent all those years ago. It'd be an exciting development for fans to witness, full of possibilities, and could prove to be the key to Tom Cruise staying relevant through the 2020s and beyond.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Mission Impossible: Why Tom Cruise loves Paris

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Reading time: 0 min Published on 15 March 2024, updated on 26 April 2024

We’ve just seen the latest instalment of the Mission Impossible film series, and as expected, it delivers! At the world premiere of the film, Tom Cruise was full of praise for Paris, chosen as the main location for his impressive stunts. Here are 6 good reasons to go see Tom Cruise in Paris on the big screen…

1. Helicopter flight over the Eiffel Tower

When you’re Tom Cruise and you have just 120 minutes to save the world (the plot is about a race against time to recover a stolen consignment of plutonium) the most practical solution is by helicopter. You’ll get a bird’s eye view of the Seine, the three floors of the iconic Eiffel Tower, and action along the quays of the Seine. Panoramic views are the upshot.

2. Parachute landing on the glass roof of the Grand Palais

Dropped (for real) by a plane over Paris, Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill land on the glass roof of the Grand Palais and pitch into the middle of a huge party. A little stunned by the fall (plunging 10,000m will do that), they cross the dance floor (what a fabulous place for a party) before completely destroying the men’s room during a violent punch-up. A memorable scene.

3. Betrayed at the Trocadero

For secret agents, treachery is as common as drinking a glass of water. But, if you’re going to even think about plotting against Tom Cruise, you’d better do it well - and big time. The action takes place far from indiscreet ears, on the esplanade of Trocadero, facing the Eiffel Tower. Classic.

@tomcruise just posted a new photo from Mission: Impossible- Fallout! #MissionImpossible Une publication partagée par Mission: Impossible (@missionimpossible) le 27 Janv. 2018 à 11 :56 PST

4. Rendezvous in the gardens of the Royal Palace

There’s nothing quite like a secret rendezvous with a former love interest to heat up the action. The perfect place for a meeting? The gardens of the Royal Palace, between the arrow straight paths and iconic columns created by artist Daniel Buren. Save the world, love art and each other, nothing else matters. Sizzling.

5. Wrong way round the Arc de Triomphe

As you can see from the picture, Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt is about to take enter the vicinity of l'Etoile, a junction of twelve avenues. Going the wrong way around the Arc de Triomphe, the most rock'n'roll traffic intersection in France, our hero realizes the fantasy of every self-respecting Parisian motorist. Insane.

6. Speed boat chase through underground canals

Our very well-informed hero knows perfectly how to traverse the underground tunnels of the Canal Saint-Martin, which stretches between the Bastille and the basin of Villette. This is one of the trendiest districts of Paris, a place of tranquil daytime delights and lively evening outings. This time, the canal saves his life. Ah that Tom...

Find out more: . The site of the movie "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" . Plan your trip to Paris . Film locations in France with Film France

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Tom Cruise Embarks on an Exciting Parisian Night Shoot for ‘Mission: Impossible’

T he streets of Paris were alive with action as Tom Cruise took to a motorcycle while filming a scene for the upcoming installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

On the evening of April 25, the 61-year-old Hollywood icon was seen on the Bir Hakeim Bridge in Paris, France, clad in a brown leather jacket and tan pants. His enthusiasm was evident as he prepared for the motorcycle sequence in the eagerly anticipated film.

Continue reading for more details…

In this latest outing, Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt for the eighth time. The title of this movie, previously referred to as Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two , has undergone a change that was announced earlier this year alongside a change in the title of Part One.

Aside from his relentless pursuit of challenging action roles, earlier this year it was also announced that Tom Cruise had secured the lead in a new project with Warner Bros., marking the beginning of a new collaboration with the studio. Reports also hint at the kind of projects the accomplished actor is now seeking to add to his repertoire.

Browse the latest photos of Tom Cruise in action on the Paris set of the new Mission: Impossible film in the gallery…

What movie was Tom Cruise filming on a motorcycle in Paris?

Tom Cruise was filming a scene for the upcoming Mission: Impossible movie.

What will this Mission: Impossible movie be titled?

The title of the eighth Mission: Impossible movie was changed from its provisional title, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two , to a new title that was announced earlier this year.

How many Mission: Impossible movies has Tom Cruise been in?

This will be Tom Cruise’s eighth film in the Mission: Impossible series.

Is Tom Cruise collaborating with Warner Bros. on a new project?

Yes, earlier this year it was confirmed that Tom Cruise will star in a new movie which is the first involved in a deal with Warner Bros.

The anticipation for the eighth film in the Mission: Impossible series grows as fans witness Tom Cruise’s dedication to performing exhilarating stunts. His Parisian escapade on a motorcycle is just a glimpse into what is sure to be another thrilling adventure in his portrayal of Ethan Hunt. With a newly titled film and a fresh project with Warner Bros. on the horizon, Cruise’s career continues to ascend as he takes on roles that reaffirm his status as one of Hollywood’s most daring and captivating leading men.