Mission Impossible 8: everything we know about Dead Reckoning part 2
We take stock of the next (and last?) chapter of the saga: Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, the longest part of the saga (2h46) has just been released in cinemas this Wednesday. Since CChristopher McQuarrie made the decision to split the story in two to “give each of the characters more space”, it will be followed by a Part 2 expected for 2024. Filming for this new (and final?) chapter has already started in South Africa and the Arctic last year. Partly paused for the release of Dead Reckoning Part 1 and his dose of red carpet, he should resume very soon. “We finish this tour, then we go back to England. (…) We will start filming as soon as we arrive”said the director during the preview in New York on Monday.
But then, what should we expect for the future? Here’s what we know. (Warning, this article contains spoilers for mission impossible 7)
An expanded cast
A priori, in mission impossible 8, we should find a large part of the cast. Among others, Hayley Atwell (Grace), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn) and Vanessa Kirby (Alanna Mitsopolis) will be back.
Christopher McQuarrie reveals Nick Offerman & Janet McTeer for ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two’
(via @chrismcquarrie) pic.twitter.com/hzd99ujWfT
—Fandom (@getFANDOM) August 1, 2022
Also, new actors should be invited for this eighth part. Christopher McQuarrie notably announced that Nick Offerman (The Last of Us) and Janet McTear (The menu) would be present. However, no information on their roles has been revealed at this time. Joining them will be Holt McCallany (fight club), Hannah Waddingham (Wretched), and Lucy Tulugarjuk (Tia and Piujuq).
Christopher McQuarrie also announced the big return of Rolf Saxonwho played William Donloe in the first Impossible mission. Remember, in 1996, he was the one who was present in the secure room of the CIA, as an analyst in charge of protecting data, but who could not prevent Ethan from stealing it, after entering the room from the ceiling, hanging from a cable. Fired from this position following this leak of confidential documents, he was reassigned… to a polar station in Alaska. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning part 2 being shot partly in the Arctic, Internet users understood that this eighth film was going to come full circle with one of the most memorable events of the entire saga.
A question nevertheless persists concerning the casting: will Angela Basset, yes or no, come back? The actress who played Erika Sloane, the boss of the CIA in Mission: Impossible Fallout in 2018, was originally scheduled to reprise this role in Episode 7. Eventually, covid and its travel restrictions saw him “ejected from the project”but we still see it in a photo hanging on a wall in a scene from MI7.
However, Christopher McQuarrie does not look defeated. “We are not done with Angela Basset”he announced with a smile on his face. varietyat the premiere of Dead Reckoning Part 1 At New York. When asked if we will see the actress again in the saga, the director replies: “Angela is far too fabulous to let go, there is always a plan for the future”.
#MissionImpossible7 director Chris McQuarrie shares what Angela Bassett’s role in the film would have been and teases a possible appearance later: “There’s always a plan in the future.” https://t.co/agnljwQbKc pic.twitter.com/mCX4aEenJM
—Variety (@Variety) July 10, 2023
Always more stunts signed Tom Cruise
Although no trailer has been unveiled for the moment, we have already been able to enjoy some excerpts from the shooting in South Africa.
Last year, on the occasion of CinemaCon where was projected Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie had concocted a surreal video for the public. Standing aboard a bi-plane flying over Blyde Canyon, east of Johannesburg, Tom Cruise speaks directly to the camera. Then, another plane joins him, in which the director sits and asks him to prepare to film a stunt. So the star says goodbye, Chris shouts”stock !” and the two planes dive towards the ground…
Tom Cruise (@tomcruise) true to form, even when presenting the trailer for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 – DEAD RECKONING – PART 1! See you at the cinema this summer. It promises ! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9HM0ttC0uI
— Paramount Pictures France (@paramountfr) September 14, 2022
In another video shot from South Africa, Tom Cruise once again addressed fans from the air. This time, he quietly teases Mission Impossible while jumping from a plane in mid-flight. So here is a foretaste of the waterfalls that can be found in the Part 2. Visibly, Top Gun will not have tired Tom Cruise of aerial sequences.
A special message from the set of #Impossible mission @MissionFilm pic.twitter.com/sfnWWluLyl
—Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) December 18, 2022
An immersion in the past of Ethan Hunt?
Regarding the history of mission impossible 8, it gets more complicated. For the moment, no official synopsis has been unveiled by the film teams. Barely a month ago, its director admitted to The Collider that he did not yet know how the Part 2. More specifically, he explained to the media that he could “well say the end of part 2, but I can’t guarantee that it’s the end that we’ll keep in the edit”.
We can nevertheless expect to learn more about the past of Ethan Hunt and the mysterious Gabriel (played by Essai Morales). Even before he became a spy, the character of Tom Cruise was already linked to this man, central to the story of mission impossible 7. Their shared history and Ethan’s arrival at the IMF may well be further developed in the eighth installment. The character of Gabriel has already revealed his dark side in the Part 1and something tells us this is just the beginning.
A production delayed by the writers’ and actors’ strike?
However, we will have to wait before knowing more. Like most Hollywood productions, mission impossible 8 was first threatened by the writers’ strike. At the world premiere Dead Reckoning Party 1, the interpreter of Ethan Hunt explained that only 40% of the film was shot before the writers’ strike got involved. And it is not likely to get better since Hollywood actors joined the movement when filming for part 2 was to resume. For the moment, no postponement has been officially announced, but the release of the next Impossible mission very likely to be delayed…
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 2 is expected in theaters in June 2024.
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