Though Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One hasn’t yet arrived in theaters (it will premiere in July of next year), work on the second part is already ongoing, and has been for a while. Deadline brings word of a new addition to the cast of the planned eighth movie in the action franchise with Mindhunter and Fight Club star Holt McCallany joining the crew. In a surprise move, the trade actually has details on who McCallany will play in the film, filling in the role of Secretary of Defense Bernstein. He joins Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham and Pom Klementieff, in the upcoming film.
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Christopher McQuarrie will return to direct Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, marking his eighth movie in a row with the franchise and meaning upon release he will have directed half of the entire series. Filming on the sequel has been ongoing for some time already with a report of Cruise’s first major stunt for the eighth movie arriving in December of last year. UK outlet The Sun brought word at the time of the stunt which saw Cruise practicing a stunt involving a World War II biplane. The Top Gun actor was not only flying the aircraft but at the end of the stunt would also make his way onto the wing of the plane and dangle upside down while the plane flipped over.
“All you need is good people,” McQuarrie previously wrote on social media, commemorating Mission: Impossible 7‘s production wrap. “To our indomitable, unstoppable, unrelenting cast and crew: Even under the best of circumstances, it should have been impossible. Even having seen it, we can’t believe what you’ve achieved. Words can never adequately express our gratitude and admiration – not only to you, but to your loved ones. You are the best in the world.”
It was previously teased that the seventh and eighth films in the series would be the “culmination” of Tom Cruise’s time with the franchise, which has persisted for nearly twenty years at this point. No official word from the star or Paramount have confirmed that no further plans exist beyond these two movies, but since the most recent entry (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) also brought in the most money at the box office it’s possible this train isn’t stopping.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will bring back other franchise stars including Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Frederick Schmidt. New additions also include Esai Morales, Rob Delaney (21 Jump Street), Charles Parnell, Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Mark Gatiss and Cary Elwes (Saw).
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is currently set to open in theaters on July 14, 2023. Part Two is set to be released on June 28, 2024.
