It feels like a lifetime ago that Christopher McQuarrie’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” set the world on fire and pumped new energy into the action franchise led by Tom Cruise. Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media were so enthralled by the audience reactions they greenlit two sequels that were initially planned to be shot back-to-back, with McQuarrie returning to both write and direct. However, it took nearly two years to finish production on “Mission: Impossible 7,” which led to multiple release date shuffling for the next two installments during that time, thanks to the unknowns and uncertainties of the pandemic.
It’s now January 2022, and Paramount has announced, via The Hollywood Reporter, they’ll have to delay the two feature films further. As it stands now, “Mission: Impossible 7” has been bumped from September 30, 2022, to July 14, 2023, and “Mission: Impossible 8” is shifting to June 28, 2024, with the studio citing “ongoing issues” due to the pandemic for the new dates.
Joining Cruise on the call-sheet include Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett, Cary Elwes, Indira Varma, Rob Delaney, and Charles Parnell.
There was an expectation the action flicks would act as parts one and two; however, the extended production on “Mission: Impossible 7” and the difficulties of shooting during COVID meant that “Mission: Impossible 8” could no longer shoot back to back with the original film. In fact, ‘Mission 8’ still hasn’t started production because the cast and crew are taking a break between films, a rest that’s was well-deserved given the length of filming and the intense COVID-19 protocols during the shoot in the United Kingdom and Europe.
“Top Gun: Maverick” might have also played a part here as the film is still set to release on May 27 (barring further delays), and the press tour for that movie, along with potential production starting in 2022 for “Mission: Impossible 8” could have led to hiccups to the actor’s commitments to promoting “Mission: Impossible 7” in September-October. In short, it’s going to be an even longer wait to see Tom Cruise return as Ethan Hunt, so let’s hope all the delays are well worth it.