Ahead of its premiere in July, the latest Mission Impossible film, Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, has started its early test screenings and we're hearing good things about the franchise's seventh entry.
Paramount Global President, Bob Bakish, volunteered this information while attending the Paramount panel at the 2023 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, & Telecom Conference in San Francisco.
Bakish revealed that the film impressed the test audience many of whom also praised Tom Cruise's acting, saying:
I haven't seen all of 'MI:7,' but I've seen a bunch of it. We actually just did the first test screening for an audience last week, and the audience lost their mind. And it's still too long, they've got to cut it. But the movie is insane. It's like a complete thrill ride. And Tom, he's very good.
In a similar manner to virtually all of his action flicks, Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will see Cruise perform his own stunts. One of them, tagged the biggest stunt in cinema history, made the rounds on social media last year and it featured the actor riding off a cliff before transitioning into a base jump.
To ensure he gets the stunt right, Cruise did advanced skydiving and base-jumping training for a year. He also took extensive motocross training and attempted over 13,000 bike jumps in preparation for the stunt.
Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will naturally see Cruise reprise his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. The film will also see Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Frederick Schmidt, and Henry Czerny reprise their roles from previous films in the franchise, while Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Nicolas Hoult, Shea Wigham, Indira Varma, Mark Gatiss, Esai Morales, and Rob Delaney also joining the cast.
Christopher McQuarrie directs the film off a script he wrote himself. He also produces alongside the franchise’s protagonist Cruise.
The forthcoming two-part film, alongside its sequel titled Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, will be the final film in the franchise to star Cruise’s character, Ethan Hunt. However, it is unclear what the studio intends to do with the franchise going forward. Given that the series has proven to be a goldmine for the studio, with a box office gross that is north of $3.5 billion, it's certain that Paramount will look to reboot the franchise or find a new lead.
By the way, Tom Cruise’s last film, Top Gun: Maverick, grossed almost $1.5 billion at the box office to become the highest-grossing film in 2022. Following its theatrical run, the film was released on Paramount+ and quickly became the most-viewed movie on the platform. However, despite its success and the prospect of more, producer Jerry Bruckheimer believes that the 60-year-old might be too busy for another installment.
Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will arrive in theaters on July 14. The sequel has already been filmed and is slated for release on June 28, 2024.
