A new video from Paramount Pictures showcases the work and effort that went into Cruise’s latest adventure as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, including several clips of the biplane set piece dominating its marketing campaign. Describing the film as “the most extreme practical action ever filmed,” the actor’s sentiments were echoed by director Christopher McQuarrie. “Tom and I are completely devoted to the biggest experience possible, and there is no bigger format than IMAX,” he said.
“This filmmaking style,” the duo explained, helped maintain the franchise’s core ethos of immersing audiences in “a place they’ve never been,” with Cruise adding, “Seeing it on IMAX invests you in that world. This is cinema. This is the experience that is defining for an audience.” Along with shots of Cruise hanging from the biplane, the promo featured several shots of Hunt descending on the submarine where the Entity AI is buried and performing his signature run.
The Final Reckoning Features A Stellar Cast
That running sequence, a hallmark of the franchise and Cruise’s action movie career, was the focus of an additional promo where McQuarrie filmed a scene where Hunt sprints across Westminster Bridge in London using ground-level and aerial cameras. While these videos focused on Cruise specifically, Paramount also released a collection of posters teasing The Final Reckoning’s supporting cast, which includes Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Nick Offerman, and Tramell Tillman.
Early reports have clocked The Final Reckoning’s runtime at two hours and 49 minutes, making it the longest Mission: Impossible entry yet. The movie follows Ethan Hunt and his team as they race against the Entity’s human ally Gabriel and other world leaders to locate the AI’s whereabouts, with subsequent marketing even featuring a throwback to the original Mission: Impossible’s iconic CIA headquarters heist returning to haunt Ethan.
Early box office reports suggest The Final Reckoning will exceed Mission: Impossible – Fallout’s $61 million opening weekend numbers, and surpass Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning after it underperformed as a casualty of Barbie and Oppenheimer’s dual releases. The Final Reckoning will compete for box office glory with Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts, the Karate Kid legacy sequel Karate Kid: Legends, and Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch, whose marketing features Stitch messing with other iconic Disney movies.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters on May 23.
