Mission: Impossible 7 Working Title Revealed

With cameras set to roll on the sequel very soon, a new detail about the upcoming seventh film in the Mission: Impossible series has been uncovered. The latest issue of Production Weekly reveals that the shooting title for the film will be “Libra.” This fits in with franchise as 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout was shot under the working title of “Gemini” so director Christopher McQuarrie clearly has an affinity for Zodiac signs. Cameras are set to start rolling on the film at the end of the month with production set to film at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden outside London and on location in the Ukraine.

McQuarrie previously made Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible – Fallout and was able to streamline the series into a much more serialized storyline. Now McQuarrie has been tapped to do both Mission: Impossible 7 & 8, which are rumored to be the possible two-part ending for Tom Cruise‘s Ethan Hunt and will be shot back-to-back.

The director has also been teasing major connections to Brian De Palma’s original Mission: Impossible for some time, announcing last week that actor Henry Czerny will return as the IMF’s Eugene Kittridge for the film, reprising his role from the 1996 original film. In that movie, Czerny’s character was the director of the IMF, but what role he will fill in the new movies remains to be seen.

Joining Cruise and Czerny in the film will be other returning cast member Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust with franchise newcomers Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, and Nicholas Hoult.

Of the many compelling elements of the series, perhaps its most standout component has been its embrace of practical effects for its impressive stunt sequences, with Cruise often going above and beyond the call of duty to make the riveting sequences look more authentic. Delivering back-to-back sequels is a tall order for the filmmaking team, which McQuarrie has previously confirmed was intimidating.

“I pitched the idea of making two movies, and now I have to justify why it’s two movies,” McQuarrie revealed last year to Empire. “You’ve got to earn that. You’ve got to make something that swallows the last three movies whole. I’m freaked out now. We’ve talked ourselves into something. Holy sh-t.”

Mission: Impossible 7 is scheduled to hit theaters on July 23, 2021. Mission: Impossible 8 is slated for August 25, 2022.