The Mission: Impossible Series Will Continue Forever, Unless One Thing Happens

Tom Cruise's trajectory as an actor is a bizarre saga unto itself. He began as something of a heartthrob in the '80s before quickly becoming a dyed-in-the-wool character actor who spent the '90s working with the cream of the crop when it came to directors. Then, his career nearly imploded in the '00s thanks to his couch-hopping antics and ties to Scientology, at which point Cruise evolved into an oddity who embodied the hollowness of Hollywood celebritydom. Ever the expert at curating his public image, however, Cruise recovered by refashioning himself yet again, this time as an action movie star willing to literally risk life and limb for our entertainment.

This brings us to the present day, in which we find ourselves awaiting the seventh entry in Cruise's long-running, massively popular film franchise, "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One." Like Cruise, the "Mission: Impossible" IP has changed drastically since its early days. What was once a low-key spy television drama following the agents of the fictional Impossible Missions Force (IMF) is now a showcase for the outlandish stunts and set pieces Cruise cooks up with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. But with Cruise on the verge of turning 61 next month and "Dead Reckoning Part Two" — which is currently on hold amidst the writers' strike — expected to serve as a swan song for Cruise's Ethan Hunt, it raises the question: Is the end nigh for the "Mission: Impossible" movies?

Not necessarily, at least according to McQuarrie. "'Mission: Impossible' will end when the audience is no longer entertained," the filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter, speaking at the "Dead Reckoning — Part One" world premiere in Rome. McQuarrie's implication, it would seem, is that someone else could ultimately step in to fill the hole left by Cruise once he's all done.

We've been here before, haven't we? Robert Elswit, the cinematographer on 2011's "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" and its immediate followup, 2015's "Rogue Nation," previously confirmed the original plan was for Tom Cruise to step aside after "Ghost Protocol." The idea was that Ethan Hunt would retire from being an agent and become Secretary of the IMF, with another character — believed to be Jeremy Renner's IMF Secretary aide/agent William Brandt — leading the missions in future movies. That changed after Christopher McQuarrie came aboard to do uncredited rewrites, at which point the idea to have Ethan retire was abandoned. McQuarrie then came on board officially as both the writer and director of "Rogue Nation," and the franchise has enjoyed a noticeable uptick in both critical and financial success under his watchful eye.

Given the state of Cruise's career in 2011, you can understand why Paramount was eager to find another face (namely, an actor with way less baggage than Cruise) to lead the charge in future "Mission: Impossible" films. Over a decade later, though, I don't see how you could separate the property from Cruise and his death-defying stunts. The man's commitment to actively putting himself in harm's way on the biggest scale possible is the main reason people keep turning out in droves to watch these films. But even Tom Cruise can't keep going forever, and if the "Dead Reckoning" movies truly are intended to close the book on Ethan Hunt, it's difficult to fathom the franchise carrying on without him.

Then again, do franchises ever really end these days? Either way, we shall see what happens when "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" hits theaters on July 12, 2023, with "Part Two" tentatively scheduled for June 28, 2024.