During the lead-up to both “Dead Reckoning” and “The Final Reckoning,” Cruise and McQuarrie were questioned about the future of the “Mission” series, and being the consummate showmen they are, they refused to give concrete answers one way or another. In 2023, McQuarrie spoke to Entertainment Weekly about potential future plans for the series. McQuarrie answered by drawing a comparison between the IMF team’s mission plans in the films and the making of the films themselves, stating:

Advertisement

“Look, we’re still shooting 8 and there’s any number of ways that that story could play out. When you’re watching Mission: Impossible, and watching the team go through these adventures, you’re having some sense of what it’s like to make a Mission: Impossible movie. There’s always a plan, the plan always changes, everything goes completely awry, and hopefully everything always turns out alright in the end. But you never really fully understand, or trust where it is you’re going, until you get there.”

Again, anyone who’s delved into the commercially released special features of the films (particularly McQuarrie’s installments) knows that so many aspects of each movie change during the making of the film, let alone its conception. So while McQuarrie may seem cagey there, he’s not lying, either.

Advertisement

When Cruise was asked by Empire during the beginning of the press tour for “The Final Reckoning” if the film was to be Ethan’s last go-round, he was certainly being cagey, in service of being a responsible star and producer in hyping up the movie he’s promoting, saying that in order to know Ethan’s fate:

“You gotta see the movie. It’s a hard thing for me to discuss at the moment, because it really is something that you have to experience.”

While neither Cruise nor McQuarrie ever hinted at the film being the end for Ethan (because, at least in terms of the character’s life, it’s not), they did make several remarks about “The Final Reckoning” being some sort of conclusion to the series, or at least this chapter of it. Cruise called the movie “an epic, emotional journey of the entire franchise,” while McQuarrie was a little more firm:

“It is, I hope, the satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc. I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate.”

So, while neither man had any direct comments regarding a ninth “Mission” — they’re there to promote “The Final Reckoning,” after all — their remarks are notably open-ended, implying that while this film is the culmination of all that’s come before it, that may not necessarily mean there’s not going to be anything after it. Yet, on the red carpet for the film, Cruise was quoted as saying “It’s the final! It’s not called ‘final’ for nothing.” So, as McQuarrie said, the plan always changes.

Advertisement