Tom Cruise is going out with a bang—literally—as he prepares to say goodbye to his iconic role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. At CinemaCon 2025, Paramount Pictures debuted jaw-dropping new footage from the film, showcasing Cruise performing one of his most outrageous stunts yet: hanging from an upside-down flying biplane.
As always, Cruise pushes the limits of action filmmaking. The new trailer also shows the actor leaping off an aircraft carrier into the ocean, as a stunned character exclaims, “You gave him an aircraft carrier?”
This installment, widely rumored to be Cruise’s final outing as the fearless IMF agent, is the direct sequel to Dead Reckoning (2023), which grossed over $570 million worldwide but struggled to break even due to inflated COVID-era production costs nearing $300 million.
The returning cast includes Mission veterans Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, and Henry Czerny. New additions to the franchise include Janet McTeer, Hannah Waddingham, and Nick Offerman. Christopher McQuarrie returns to direct and co-writes alongside Erik Jendresen.
Before the footage was shown, Cruise took the CinemaCon stage to honor McQuarrie as “Director of the Year,” praising his leadership not just on the Mission films but also on other high-profile projects like Top Gun: Maverick and World War Z. Cruise credited McQuarrie for helping pioneer on-set COVID safety protocols during Dead Reckoning, ensuring crews could keep working safely.
“This is your calling. Your destiny,” says Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell in the trailer—seemingly echoing the sentiment of fans and filmmakers as Cruise wraps up his nearly three-decade journey as Ethan Hunt.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning hits theaters on May 23, 2025.