Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning: Release date, cast and trailers

In other words, it's just another Thursday for our IMF agents, but there certainly appears to be a sense of finality around this latest assignment, stoking speculation that Cruise may be bowing out of his demanding duties as Hunt.

The Hollywood legend recently revealed that he passed out during filming on another death-defying plane stunt, proving that even the actor's infamously strong nerves have their limits.

The latest trailer, released a little over a month before the film is due for release, once again includes a tense moment in which Hunt asks his team to trust him "one last time". So, what on Earth does he have planned now?

Read on for everything we know so far about Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, with the warning that there are some major spoilers for Dead Reckoning Part 1 in this article.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning release date

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 is currently scheduled to be released on Wednesday 21st May 2025.

Way back, the film was originally slated to land on 5th August 2022 but has faced delays due to global restrictions, with the pandemic disrupting plans for back-to-back filming for Part 1.

Filming began in March 2022, but was then paused again due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes before eventually finishing for good in late 2024.

Who will star in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning?

Most of the Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning cast will return – with a full list of confirmed cast members below:

• Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
• Hayley Atwell as Grace
• Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell
• Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn
• Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis
• Esai Morales as Gabriel
• Pom Klementieff as Paris
• Mariela Garriga as Marie
• Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge
• Holt McCallany as Bernstein
• Janet McTeer as TBC
• Nick Offerman as Sydney
• Hannah Waddingham as TBC
• Angela Bassett as Erika Sloane
• Shea Whigham as Jasper Briggs
• Greg Tarzan Davis as Degas
• Charles Parnell: The head of the NRO
• Frederick Schmidt as Zola Mitsopolis
• Rolf Saxon as William Donloe
• Tommie Earl Jenkins as Colonel Burdick
• Mark Gatiss as the head of the NSA
• Indira Varma as the head of the DIA
• Lucy Tulugarjuk as TBC
• Katy O'Brian as TBC
• Tramell Tillman as TBC
• Stephen Oyoung as TBC

In the least surprising casting news of all time, Tom Cruise will once again be reprising the role of Ethan Hunt in the new film, no doubt attempting to pull off all manner of incredible stunts as he tries to top the already iconic motorbike cliff jump from Part 1.

Ethan will once again be joined on his impossible mission by long-term allies Luther Stickell and Benji Dunn, played by Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg respectively, while Hayley Atwell will be back as new IMF recruit Grace following her franchise debut in Part 1.

However, one big name who looks like she won't return – unless there are plans for any flashback sequences – is Rebecca Ferguson, whose popular character Ilsa Faust was tragically killed off during the Dead Reckoning.

Meanwhile, a number of other characters who debuted in Part 1 are also in line for a return, including Esai Morales as villain Gabriel, Shea Wigham and Greg Tarzan Davis as CIA agents Jasper and Degas, and the scene-stealing Pom Klementieff as assassin Paris – who narrowly avoided death at the end of Part 1.

Henry Czerny will also return as IMF director Eugene Kittridge, while Rolf Saxon will reprise his role as another character who first appeared in the very first Mission: Impossible film – CIA analyst William Donloe.

A number of new characters will also join the cast, with Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman and Hannah Waddingham among those set to star, as well as Love Lies Bleeding star Katy O'Brian.

Not much has been revealed about those new characters so far, but Ted Lasso star Waddingham previously told Entertainment Tonight that she would be playing a "powerful" and "functional" figure in the film.

Meanwhile, Angela Bassett – who starred as CIA director Erika Sloane in Fallout – is back again after COVID travel restrictions ruled her out of an appearance in Part 1.

We'll keep you posted with all the latest casting developments – so do keep checking back for the latest news.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning plot

Although no official plot synopsis has been provided at this stage, we know that the film will follow on directly from the events of Part 1, which saw Ethan and his pals get their hands on the key that should help them to control the Entity.

Now armed with the knowledge that the key unlocks the chamber holding the computer on the sunk submarine Sevastopol, Ethan, Benji, Luther, and Grace will race to get there while no doubt fighting off the advances of various enemies including Gabriel.

And it seems likely that the Entity will continue causing all sorts of havoc before they get close to controlling it, so it certainly won't be an easy task. This is not mission difficult, after all, it's mission impossible!

When more plot details emerge, we'll add them to this section.

Will Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning be the last film?

That's the big question – and there are still somewhat conflicting reports.

Although Cruise and McQuarrie initially appeared to suggest that this two-parter would bring Ethan Hunt's story to close, later comments from the pair indicate that this might not be the case after all.

Speaking to Fandango in June 2023, McQuarrie said that not only would this not be the end, but that he and Cruise had also already been discussing ideas for what the future might hold for the IMF.

Meanwhile, Cruise said he hoped to take a leaf out of Harrison Ford's book and keep making action films until he was in his 80s.

"Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope to be still going; I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I’m his age."

That said, the film's title and various reports since do appear to suggest that this is the last we'll see of Ethan – while Cruise's recent remarks have added a little more fuel to the fire.

Asked recently by Empire about the prospect, he said: "It’s a hard thing for me to discuss at the moment because it really is something that you have to experience.” Meanwhile he called the movie “an epic, emotional journey of the entire franchise”.

The typically daring Cruise added that he did suffer one or two health blips in the production of The Final Reckoning, explaining that he passed out during one scene that was filmed on the wing of a plane at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

“When you stick your face out, going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen," he explained. "So I had to train myself how to breathe. There were times I would pass out physically; I was unable to get back into the cockpit."

As for McQuarrie, he explained that it was a "satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc" and that, "I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate."

Maybe Cruise is getting ready to hand over the mantle to another star? We'll have to wait and see...

Is there a trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning?

The full-length trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is now available to stream online. Check it out here:

Earlier this year, we'd seen a brief glimpse of the film that aired on US television during the Super Bowl. You can watch that clip here too:

Our first look at the film came back in November 2024, when a short teaser was revealed showing off Ethan Hunt's (potentially) final mission. Watch here:

Read More:

• Mission: Impossible's Simon Pegg would "love" a Benji and Ilsa spin-off
• Mission: Impossible's Hayley Atwell on what surprised her about Tom Cruise

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will be released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 21st May 2025.

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