Will Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning be the last of the franchise? Explained

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is out in the theaters impressing fans and critics alike. With its last three outings, Tom Cruise has turned Mission: Impossible into a premium action movie franchise, and Dead Reckoning continues the good work.

It started off with a record-high Rotten Tomatoes score and has also done well at the box office so far. Its ending left fans asking for more as the story isn’t complete yet. When Dead Reckoning was announced, it was revealed to be a two-part story. Its sequel is set to arrive on June 28, 2024. So, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is not the final movie of the franchise.

But will we get a ninth film after Dead Reckoning Part Two? That is where the mystery lies.

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Director Christopher McQuarrie teases Mission: Impossible 9 after Dead Reckoning

Esai Morales vs. Tom Cruise (Image via Paramount)

Initially, M:I 7 & 8 were announced as a two-part finale event for the franchise. But recently, in an episode of Light the Fuse, writer-director Christopher McQuarrie was asked about plans for the franchise's future, and he initially sent mixed signals.

"Let me tell you, I've been working with Tom Cruise for 15 years, and I cannot tell you the number of times I've been standing next to the man, witnessed an event, and then read about it in the trades the next day, and none of what they describe is actually true," he said.

"When you read articles in the trades, just put the imaginary word in front of the headline: 'The Agenda Is…' When you read 'anonymous sources' or 'sources close to the production say,' that's somebody putting it out there for a specific reason.

"That's someone wanting others to think that for a specific reason, and you can never know for sure what those reasons are. You learn to ignore it and laugh at it. In today's world, you wait 17 minutes, and another news cycle will sweep it away," he added.

The meaning derived from this is that everything we've heard in the trades may not be true.

After McQuarrie’s statement, Fandango tweeted that he has already teased plans to be in motion after Dead Reckoning Part Two. But a lot will depend upon how the film ends and how it performs at the box office.

Considering that the franchise has plenty of amazing characters besides Ilsa Faust and Ethan Hunt, we could still get an M:I 9, even if Hunt dies in the next outing.

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How Mission: Impossible 9 could still happen

M: I franchise (Image via Paramount)

The simple answer to whether Mission: Impossible 9 will happen or not depends mostly on the box office numbers of both Dead Reckoning Parts One & Two. The following list shows how the franchise has performed so far:

• Mission: Impossible — $457.7 million
• Mission: Impossible 2 — $546.4 million
• Mission: Impossible III — $398.5 million
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol — $694.7 million
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation — $682.7 million
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout — $791.7 million

If M:I 7 and 8 end up coming close to a Billion Dollars or going past it, then we could surely expect Part 9 to happen after a break (with or without Ethan Hunt). We could always see the return of Jeremy Renner’s Agent, while Tom Cruise could continue to produce future Mission: Impossible movies without starring in them, in case Dead Reckoning Part Two marks the end of Ethan Hunt.