Mission Impossible 7 Is On Its Way
It’s a standing joke among movie fans that the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise is the film series that will never end. No matter how true it is that every single ‘Fast and Furious’ release is just another variation on the idea of ‘cool guys in fast cars do cool things,’ it’s still guaranteed to do big business at the box office, and that means a sequel is always inevitable. Unless we finally get tired of the formula – something that shows no sign of happening any time soon – we’ll probably be watching the 25th ‘Fast and Furious’ film a few years from now, but it’s not the only series that seems to come back time after time. A seventh ‘Mission Impossible’ movie is on its way, and the cameras will start rolling very soon.
Owning a successful movie franchise is the ultimate dream of production companies and film studios. For them, it’s like owning their own slots game on websites like Amigoslots.com. It doesn’t matter what combination comes up when the reels are spun because they’re ultimately still the winners, even if some of the players get paid out. Just like those players putting money into an online slots game, viewers are happy to pay to enjoy the experience even if the end result isn’t exactly what they wanted to see, and you can usually guarantee they’ll come again even if they didn’t love it. ‘Mission Impossible’ even has its own official online slots game to underline the metaphor, but are Paramount gambling on the goodwill of the cinema-going public by returning to the well yet again?
The answer to the question posed above is ‘almost certainly not.’ Despite the fact that the movie franchise is now approaching its 25th birthday – and will have reached it by the point the next film comes out – it still makes more money every time a new film is released. The most recent outing for Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt – a character he first played in 1996 – made just over $790m at the box office. That makes it the biggest ‘Mission Impossible’ movie to date, and so it sets a benchmark for the eighth film to beat. What, though, can the producers show us that they haven’t shown us before? And who’s coming along for the ride?
It almost goes without saying that Tom Cruise is signed up to play Hunt again. Cruise, who never seems to age at all, currently looks set to have an action-packed twelve months with not only the new ‘Mission Impossible’ film but also the long-awaited ‘Top Gun’ sequel that will finally hit cinema screens in the middle of this year. Despite the fact that he’s approaching 60 years old, it’s understood that Cruise still performs the majority of his own stunts, and could pass for a man twenty years younger. While Daniel Craig’s increasing age is a major plot point in the new James Bond movie, Cruise is still able to portray Ethan Hunt just as convincingly as he was in 1996. In news that will please fans, Simon Pegg will once again join him as Benji Dunn. Although Pegg was a later addition to the franchise, the perceived ‘bromance’ between Benji and Ethan has become one of the selling points of ‘Mission Impossible,’ and provides a great deal of the much-needed comic relief to break up the dramatic tension of the films.
While the film is yet to receive an official title, it’s being filmed back to back with an eighth movie that will be released in 2022 and, if rumors are to be believed, will be the final installment in the long-running series. If that’s true, then all the usual rules go out of the window. Anybody could be at risk, anybody could die at any time, and the stakes will likely be bigger than ever before. Christopher McQuarrie, who has been associated with the franchise since 2015’s ‘Rogue Nation’ and is known to be a favorite of Tom Cruise, is directing both films. Details of the plot are scant, but based on material that’s been pieced together from interviews the cast has given, it’s thought that filming will begin in March this year, and the main location for shooting will be Italy.
It won’t surprise anybody to hear that Rebecca Ferguson has also been confirmed as playing Ilsa Faust in both of the new films, but just because the cast is already an all-star arrangement doesn’t mean there isn’t space for even more big names. Hayley Atwell has confirmed that she’s been cast as the female lead in both films, although she’s been coy about whether she’ll be a friend or a foe to Hunt and his allies. Nicholas Hoult, a British star best known for his work in the more recent ‘X-Men’ films, is in on the action as well. Based on his career history, it’s probably safe to assume that he’ll be playing a villain. Sean Harris’s character Solomon Lane managed to escape from the jaws of death as he seemingly always does at the denouement of 2018’s ‘Fallout,’ so we’d be disappointed if he wasn’t back to make life hard for Hunt, too.
With two films being made back to back, we can’t rule out the possibility that the movies are connected. Rather than being viewed as two separate films, they may be two parts of the same tale, with a plot big enough to justify the extended running time. We’ve seen ‘Star Wars’ do very well at the box office in recent years by splitting the same story over several films, so Cruise and McQuarrie may have decided that it’s a formula that could also work for their pet project. At the time of writing, though, this is mere speculation.
We’ll be sure to bring you further news on the return of ‘Mission Impossible’ as soon as it’s available. In the meantime, mark the date of July 23rd 2021, in your calendar, because that’s when the seventh film will reach cinemas. It might seem a long way off right now, but it will come around sooner than you think!
I need to still see number 6!