After announced to be filmed back-to-back, the next two installments of the action film franchise get 2021 and 2022 release dates.
- Feb 2, 2019
AceShowbiz - Paramount Pictures is moving fast with one of its most successful franchises, "Mission: Impossible". After hiring Christopher McQuarrie to helm the next two installments, the studio has set release dates for the seventh and eighth entries in the franchise.
Paramount announced on Friday, February 1 that "Mission: Impossible VII" would arrive July 23, 2021, followed by "Mission: Impossible VIII" on August 5, 2022. This is in line with a previous tease from Tom Cruise, who hinted that the new movies would be coming in summer 2021 and 2022.
This relatively short one-year gap between the two movies is made possible as McQuarrie is set to direct the sequels back-to-back. "Missions: Accepted#MissionImpossible," the director, who served behind the lens for "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" and "Mission: Impossible - Fallout", confirmed via Twitter in January.
Cruise is expected to reprise his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. No start date is set just yet, but it's likely to begin sometime in 2019, after Cruise finishes the filming for "Top Gun: Maverick". The 2021 release date for "Mission: Impossible VII" is to avoid a clash with the "Top Gun" sequel, which is also in the works at Paramount.
The latest "Mission: Impossible" installment, "Fallout", grossed over $790 million worldwide, against a production budget of $178 million. It's the best haul in the franchise to date. The movie was also the best reviewed for the franchise, receiving an approval rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Thus, Paramount Pictures looks to repeat the success by bringing McQuarrie back on board the next movies.
Besides the "Mission: Impossible" movies, Cruise and McQuarrie have worked together for other films, including Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie" which McQuarrie wrote, as well as "Jack Reacher" and "Edge of Tomorrow" which the filmmaker directed. The 56-year-old actor stars in all three movies.
