The Mission: Impossible 8 release date is set for 2025, and there’s intense speculation on what’s next for Ethan Hunt after Dead Reckoning Part One.

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Mission: Impossible 8 will pick up from the dramatic cliffhanger left by Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and it could be the most dangerous impossible mission of them all. Story details about what was originally titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two are still mostly under wraps, and there’s been much speculation about whether any new cast members will be announced or what star Tom Cruise could do to top the incredible feats he’s achieved playing IMF agent Ethan Hunt. Since the franchise has already been a rollercoaster of twists, turns, and belief-defying action, speculation on what to expect from Mission: Impossible 8 is high.

When it arrives in 2025 Mission: Impossible 8 will find Ethan Hunt in a precarious position. Dead Reckoning Part One story saw Ethan and his loyal IMF team chasing after a foe from Ethan’s past and a rogue A.I. dubbed “The Entity.” Dead Reckoning Part One ends on a cliffhanger with one of Ethan’s team dead and a desperate race to find and destroy The Entity before other interested parties can obtain it. The stakes have never been higher for Tom Cruise’s super-spy, and the next Mission: Impossible movie is already one of the most eagerly anticipated in the franchise so far.

The Latest Mission: Impossible 8 News

The latest Mission: Impossible 8 news came on October 24, 2023. It was revealed by Paramount that after a year of unwanted filming delays and other production hiccups, the Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part Two release date has been pushed back to 2025. In addition to this, we confirmed that Mission: Impossible 8 is changing its title, and won’t be called Dead Reckoning Part Two. The release date delay to May 23, 2025, from June 28, 2024, was somewhat expected given the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023. The title change, however, was a surprise.

Since the title of the previous movie is Dead Reckoning Part One, and clearly was the first half of a two-part story, the news Mission: Impossible 8 won’t be called Dead Reckoning Part Two was a shock. There hasn’t been a new title revealed yet, nor has there been any update from Paramount on whether this will impact the plot of the next Mission: Impossible movie. Production hasn’t been completed but was well underway when the strikes started, so it seemed unlikely there’d be any significant changes. A release date delay of a year is no small change, however, which means it’s entirely possible there are not-insignificant adjustments being made to Mission: Impossible 8.

Mission: Impossible 8 Is Confirmed

Mission: Impossible 8 is confirmed. The seventh and eighth entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise were simultaneously announced by Cruise and McQuarrie on January 15, 2019. While it was the initial plan for both Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One &amp; Two to be shot back-to-back, this approach was dropped before filming began. Filming on Mission: Impossible 8 started in March 2022, and as of late 2023 production is still ongoing.

Production on the next Mission: Impossible movie was halted amid the Screen Actors Guild strike. It was reported (via THR) that Mission: Impossible 8 will join other blockbuster releases from industry heavyweights in shutting down due to the dispute between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP. The delay came shortly after Mission: Impossible 8 director Christopher McQuarrie gave a production update and stated the then-ongoing WGA strike wouldn’t stall production.

Mission: Impossible 8 Release Date

The Mission: Impossible 8 release date is May 23, 2025. The premiere was previously set for June 2024 but was pushed back by almost a year by Paramount. This will be 29 years after the release of the original Mission: Impossible, ranking it among the longest-running action franchises ever. Like Dead Reckoning Part One and the preceding two Mission: Impossible movies, Mission: Impossible 8 will be written and directed by Cruise’s long-time collaborator Christopher McQuarrie.

Mission: Impossible 8 Cast

The cast of Mission: Impossible 8 contains many returning names from the cast of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One. Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick, War of the Worlds) is once again returning as international superspy Ethan Hunt. Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and Ving Rhames (Con Air, Pulp Fiction) will also return as Benji and Luther respectively, two of Hunt’s closest friends and most trusted advisors. Other returning cast members of Mission: Impossible 8 include Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman, Napoleon) as The White Widow, and Esai Morales (Bad Boy, La Bamba) as new villain Gabriel, a shadowy figure from Ethan’s past.

Despite Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One ending with assassin Paris being badly wounded, Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Oldboy) is confirmed to return for the Mission: Impossible 8 cast. Rolf Saxon (Tomorrow Never Dies, Saving Private Ryan) will return to the franchise for Mission: Impossible 8, reprising his role as CIA analyst William Donloe from the 1996 original. Donloe was last seen being demoted by Henry Czerny’s (Clear And Present Danger, Scream VI) Kittridge — who will also return for M:I 8 — and reassigned to a polar substation in Alaska for the Langley mess.

Sadly, Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Silo) is unlikely to return as former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, as her character was 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed in Part One following a duel with Gabriel. Newcomers to Mission: Impossible 8 cast include Holt McCallany (Mindhunter) as the Secretary of Defense, Nick Offerman (The Last Of Us) as Sydney and Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham in an undisclosed role.

Will Mission: Impossible 8 Be Tom Cruise’s Last?

There’s speculation that Mission: Impossible 8 will be Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible movie. While Dead Reckoning Part Two was once set to be the final installment, it appears Mission: Impossible 9 could happen after all. Speaking with Fandango in June 2023, McQuarrie revealed the Dead Reckoning two-parter won’t be the end of the series, and that they already have concepts about what comes next. Speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald about Harrison Ford’s return in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Cruise stated “Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope to be still going; I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him. I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I’m his age.”

Mission: Impossible 8 Story Details

Specifics are being kept under wraps, but there are already some hints at what the Mission: Impossible 8 plot will be. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One ends when Ethan manages to recover the key to The Entity’s chamber that everyone is seeking. The issue is that this chamber is located inside the wreck of a Russian submarine dubbed the Sevastopol, and while Ethan’s mission is to destroy the rogue A.I., many other nations are trying to recover and potentially weaponize it. That means the whole planet will be coming after Ethan and his IMF team – including newbie Grace (Hayley Atwell) — to get that key and stop his mission.

Hunt and his team have no idea where the submarine actually is, so finding the sunken Sevastopol will likely take up part of Mission: Impossible 8’s story. The movie formerly tot;ed Dead Reckoning Part Two will have to answer some other lingering mysteries. There’s the question of who exactly was Marie (Mariela Garriga) and what was her relationship to Ethan. Gabriel is shown 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing Marie right in front of Ethan in a flashback set 30 years prior, which spurred Ethan to join the IMF.

Other unanswered questions the Mission: Impossible 8 story needs to address include where Luther (Ving Rhames) disappeared to with the hard drive containing a piece of the villainous A.I., and why exactly is Jasper Briggs’ (Shea Whigham) so intent on bringing in Hunt. The fact his surname is the same as Dan Briggs — the founder and first leader of the IMF team in the original Mission: Impossible TV series — could be a clue in itself.

Mission: Impossible 8 Trailer Info

There’s currently no trailer available for Mission: Impossible 8. With filming being delayed and work on the sequel still needing to be carried out amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, it could be closer to the end of 2024 before a Mission: Impossible 8 trailer arrives from Paramount.