In January 2019, Cruise announced that the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible films would be shot
back-to-back with McQuarrie writing and directing both films. Plans for the film later changed in February 2021. Returning and new cast members were announced soon after, and
Lorne Balfe, who composed the score for two films, returned to score the film. Filming began in March 2022 in the United Kingdom with other filming locations, including Malta, South Africa and Norway. It was halted in July 2023 due to the
SAG-AFTRA strike, and resumed in March 2024 before being halted again in May.
The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 23, 2025, by
Paramount Pictures.
Ving Rhames as
Luther Stickell: An IMF computer technician, Ethan's best friend and a member of his team.
Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge: The former director of IMF who became the director of the CIA in Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).
Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn: An IMF technical field agent and a member of Ethan's team and close friend.
Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis: A black market arms dealer also known as the White Widow and daughter of Max Mitsopolis, a deceased former arms dealer from Mission: Impossible.
Hayley Atwell as Grace: A thief turned IMF agent and Ethan's ally. Atwell returns from Dead Reckoning Part One.[3]
Esai Morales as Gabriel: A powerful terrorist with ties to Ethan's past before the IMF, and acts as the Entity's liaison. Morales returns from Dead Reckoning Part One.
Pom Klementieff as Paris: A French assassin who was betrayed by Gabriel and became an ally of the IMF after being spared by Ethan. Klementieff returns from Dead Reckoning Part One.
Shea Whigham as Jasper Briggs: A US Intelligence agent assigned to track down Ethan and his team. Whigham returns from Dead Reckoning Part One.[4]
Greg Tarzan Davis as Degas: A US Intelligence agent and Briggs' partner assigned to track down Ethan and his team. Davis returns from Dead Reckoning Part One.
Mariela Garriga as Marie: A woman from Ethan and Gabriel's past. Garriga returns from Dead Reckoning Part One.
Rolf Saxon as William Donloe: A CIA analyst who was last seen being transferred to
Alaska in Mission: Impossible.[5]
On January 14, 2019, Cruise announced that the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible films would be shot
back-to-back with McQuarrie writing and directing both films for July 23, 2021, and August 5, 2022, releases.[11][12] However, in February 2021, Deadline Hollywood revealed that Paramount had decided to no longer move forward with that plan.[13] It was reported that both films would be a "send-off" to the Ethan Hunt character.[14][15]
In February 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that the film would no longer be filmed back-to-back with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.[29] By November, McQuarrie was in the process of rewriting the film.[30] On March 23, 2022, The Hollywood Reporter reported the beginning of
principal photography of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.[31] Filming took place in the UK at
Longcross Studios and the
Lake District. Other locations included
Malta, South Africa and
Norway. In December 2022, it was reported that filming was finished in the UK.[32] The crew then moved to
Apulia in Italy to continue filming aboard the aircraft carrier
USS George H.W. Bush.[33] During the
2023 Writers Guild of America strike, production was thought to have been put on hold according to an interview with McQuarrie in the June 2023 issue of the Empire magazine.[34] However, this was later revealed to have been a misinterpretation of McQuarrie's statement, and continued production was only waiting for the promotion of Part One to complete.[35] Filming was officially suspended in July due to the
2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[36] Filming resumed in March 2024,[37] but came to another halt in May due to a faulty gimbal.[38]
Post-production
Industrial Light & Magic returns from the seventh film to produce the visual effects, alongside One of Us, with Clear Angle Studios and Halon Entertainment as the additional vendors for
lidar, cyber scanning and previsualization.[39][40][41] In October 2023, Dead Reckoning Part Two was removed as the film's subtitle, with a new subtitle yet to be announced.[1]
In June 2023, McQuarrie told Fandango that Dead Reckoning Part One and the untitled eighth film would not necessarily end the series, and they were developing ideas for future installments.[48] In July 2023, during promotion for Part One, Cruise expressed interest in continuing to make further films in the series as Ethan Hunt, despite both films having initially been billed as a send-off to the character.[49]