Shea Whigham Cast In Mission Impossible 7 And 8

The world is still getting ready for the upcoming seventh and eighth entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise, and the series has just added a notable character actor to its already extensive cast. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie took to social media to reveal that Shea Whigham has joined Mission: Impossible 7 and the already-announced Mission: Impossible 8. McQuarrie captioned the reveal saying with “You won’t see him coming…” perhaps implying that Whigham will be playing a villain in the upcoming movie.

Whigham has had many notable supporting roles in Hollywood, most recently appearing as a police detective in Joker. With the new Mission: Impossible movies, Whigham will reunite with Agent Carter herself Hayley Atwell, having appeared opposite her in the eponymous TV series. The actor has also starred in films like Bad Times at the El Royale, Star Trek: Beyond, Kong: Skull Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, Fast & Furious 6, plus shows like HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, True Detective, and Vice Principals.

It was revealed earlier this year that Christopher McQuarrie has signed on to write and direct both the seventh and eighth films in the series, bringing his total films directed the franchise to four upon completion. Tom Cruise will once again star in the films which will be shot back-to-back, a franchise first. Cruise will lead a cast that also includes Guardians of the Galaxy star Pom Klementieff and sees the return of Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. Mission: Impossible 7 is currently scheduled for release on July 23rd, 2021 while Mission: Impossible 8 will dive into theaters on August 5th, 2022.

“We couldn’t be more excited to build on the massive success of Mission:Impossible—Fallout by reteaming with Chris and Tom on these next two films, following two successful collaborations,” Paramount chairman Jim Gianopulos said about the sequels. “We’ve also enjoyed a great partnership with Skydance and David Ellison on these three most recent films and look forward to continued success together on this great franchise.”

Mission: Impossible has been a long-time box office stalwart for Paramount, having grossed over $3.57 billion worldwide through six movies. The most recent entry, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, is the highest-earning flick of the franchise as it finished its box office run by grossing over $791.1 million worldwide, $220.1 million of which came domestically.