There comes a time when every long-running movie franchise decides that it is time to quit, and the latest reports have suggested that Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 will be the final outings for Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Having just completed work on the seventh installment at the end of last year, Cruise went straight to work on Mission: Impossible 8, which after more than 25 years is said to be bringing the series to a close when it finally is released in 2024, according to Variety.

Tom Cruise first appeared on-screen as Hunt in 1996, and while it took a while for the franchise to gain the praise it was looking for, a change of pace in 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol saw the franchise grow in popularity and in all across the six movies released so far together they have pulled in over $3.5 billion at the box office at a cost of around $820 million. Having started with legendary director Brian De Palma at the helm, and sequels having enlisted John Woo, J.J. Abrams and Brad Bird, the last two movies and the upcoming duo have all been done under the directorial eye of Christopher McQuarrie, who has also directed Cruise’s first Jack Reacher movie, and acted as writer on a number of the star’s movies including Edge of Tomorrow and Top Gun: Maverick.

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The new Mission: Impossible movies were originally set to premiere in 2021 and 2022, but the Covid pandemic forced a number of filming delays, which saw the dual release pushed back twice, with Mission: Impossible 7 now arriving in 2023 and Mission: Impossible 8 following in 2024. After playing the character for a quarter of a century, and having probably done all he can in the role without it seeming like repetition, it is not surprising that Cruise is planning on calling it a day on one of the most prominent roles of his career.

Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 Are Guaranteed to Be Biggest Movies of Franchise

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Although it will have been five years since Cruise appeared as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Fallout by the time the new movie comes out, it could well be a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder. If this is the penultimate run of the character, then fans will definitely want to be on board, and with Fallout having taken over $800 million at the box office, at least one of the upcoming films could well look to break the $1 billion mark.

So far, footage leaked from filming on the upcoming movies has given a good idea of just how physical these stories will be, and if this is the culmination of the franchise, then it goes some way to explaining why the sequels are bringing back many familiar faces from previous entries in the series. With the Fast and Furious movies also looking to wrap up in the next few years, it seems that it is going to be a frenetic time for fans of stunt-driven action movies, and there is little doubt that both franchises will be looking to go out with the biggest bang they can come up with.