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After viewers finally got their first look at the sequel, Shea Whigham has an exciting early review for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. The next installment of the action franchise will see Whigham return alongside fellow franchise stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett and Greg Tarzan Davis. The Final Reckoning carries on the story from Dead Reckoning's ending, in which Cruise's Ethan Hunt continues his search for The Entity and stop Morales' Gabriel from claiming the AI for himself.
During a recent interview with Screen Rant for his upcoming dramedy Lake George, Whigham was asked about what viewers could expect from Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. The star was quick to caution he couldn't share anything, having "already gotten my hand slapped" for sharing too much, but did offer an early review of the film instead, promising it will be "so good" and that all of Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie's comments hyping it up are "not hyperbolic". Check out what Whigham shared below:
I've already gotten my hand slapped for saying things that I shouldn't say, and someone on this call would be upset with me. I'll tell you this, Cruise and McQuarrie are not hyperbolic. They love cinema, they're both cinephiles. This thing is so good. This next one, it's really, really good. It's because it's grounded in character, and that's what McQ knows, McQuarrie knows, so well. They give everyone a little slice, a little moment. We know that Tom is the sun, and we revolve around that, and we're happy to do that, honestly, but they always give everyone a little bit. It's very rewarding to do them. And Carrie, I'm going to bring her on to the next Mission, and she's going to bring me into the Ghostbusters next.
What This Means For Mission: Impossible 8
Cruise & McQuarrie Have Pulled Out All The Stops For The Final Reckoning
While it may be easy for some to consider Whigham's comments as a star wanting to make their movie sound as good as possible, Cruise and McQuarrie's history has certainly set a precedent for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning to live up to his review. From his first outing in the franchise, McQuarrie's tenure has turned out the best-reviewed installments of the series, with 2018's Fallout landing an impressive and near-perfect 98% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Check out how the Mission: Impossible movies compare on Rotten Tomatoes in the chart below:
Mission: Impossible | 65% | 71% |
Mission: Impossible II | 56% | 42% |
Mission: Impossible III | 71% | 69% |
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol | 94% | 76% |
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation | 94% | 87% |
Mission: Impossible — Fallout | 98% | 88% |
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning | 96% | 94% |
Beyond just the reviews, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning also has the benefit of being the most expensive installment yet. While no final figure has been confirmed by Paramount, recent reports have indicated the eighth installment is nearing $400 million, primarily due to various production delays, surpassing Dead Reckoning's previous franchise-high $291 million price tag. Though the saying "bigger is better" isn't necessarily always true with movie sequels, McQuarrie's increasingly rave success paired with his larger budgets should instill further confidence in audiences about Whigham's early review.
Will Mission: Impossible 8 Actually Be The Franchise's Finale?
Paramount Is Certainly Painting It As Such
While Whigham's review is sure to be an exciting tease of what's to come from the sequel, one of the things it doesn't actually share insight for is whether Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning will indeed be the finale for the franchise. Beyond just the title's inclusion of "Final", a recent report also indicated that Paramount was looking to promote the film as the final installment in the hopes of drumming up audience interest. Considering Dead Reckoning proved to be a box office disappointment after going up against Barbenheimer, it makes sense that the studio would be exploring every possible angle to reverse this.
Despite grossing a seemingly impressive $570.6 million, Dead Reckoning was reported to have lost Paramount upward of $100 million after factoring in marketing costs along with its net $219 million production budget.
That said, considering the ongoing success Cruise and McQuarrie have enjoyed with recent Mission: Impossible movies from a review perspective, it does seem difficult to believe The Final Reckoning will bring the franchise to a close. Cruise himself has expressed his desire to keep playing Ethan Hunt for as long as the storytelling remains fresh, wanting to even surpass Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones into his 70s. McQuarie has also previously indicated having future ideas for the franchise beyond the initial-two-part Dead Reckoning plan.
Ultimately, the two biggest hurdles going forward will be Cruise's schedule and how Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning performs at the box office. Cruise recently signed a major first-look deal at Warner Bros., which is already resulting in his new movie with The Revenant's Alejandro G. Iñárritu, though is working with Paramount on both Top Gun 3 and Days of Thunder 2. If The Final Reckoning proves to be as acclaimed as its recent predecessors and can redeem the box office disappointment of Dead Reckoning, it seems likely the studio will reverse their decision on wanting to close out the franchise.
Our Take On Whigham's Mission: Impossible 8 Review
Cruise & McQuarrie Haven't Missed, Even Beyond The Franchise
Though the Mission: Impossible franchise may be their most notable partnership, McQuarrie and Cruise's success streak extends well beyond it, with only a brief miss coming with 2017's The Mummy. Their first outing with 2008's historical thriller Valkyrie allowed Cruise to break away from the action genre, while their work on the first Jack Reacher movie was an entertaining and fairly faithful adaptation of the character, barring the difference in height between Cruise and Lee Child's eponymous hero. McQuarrie was also involved in major rewrites for Edge of Tomorrow and Top Gun: Maverick, which worked in both films' favor.
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As such, I'm fully ready to believe Whigham's early praise for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. To his point, McQuarrie does generally ensure that the characters' developments feel just as important as the large-scale set pieces, and just from the trailers alone, it seems clear that he's built an epic closure to Dead Reckoning's cliffhanger, and potentially the franchise, should reports of Paramount wanting to bring it to a close be true.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is the direct sequel to Dead Reckoning - Part One and is the eighth film in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Said to be the final film, Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and more will reprise their roles in Ethan Hunt's IMF team as they face off against a dangerous foe from their past.
Director Christopher McQuarrie
Release Date May 23, 2025
Studio(s) Paramount Pictures , Skydance
Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures
Writers Christopher McQuarrie , Erik Jendresen
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English (US) ·