An action franchise has the potential to last across decades, depending on the quality of stories and the appeal of the lead. The Mission: Impossible series has succeeded with this, as Tom Cruise first appeared as Ethan Hunt in 1996, and 20 years and five movies later, he's still going strong as the secret agent. Shortly after 2015's Rogue Nation was released, Mission: Impossible 6 was announced, and over a year later, the next installment finally has a release date: July 27, 2018.
Paramount officially revealed today (via THR) that Mission: Impossible 6 has scored a spot in late July, placing it near the end of the 2018 summer movie season. However, don't think that means it won't have any major competition. That same Friday, Warner Bros will release Aquaman, one of the DC Extended Universe's entries and the King of the Seven Seas' first solo adventure following appearances in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Along with Alita: Battle Angel having come out the previous week and both The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp having arrived earlier in the month, Mission: Impossible 6 will be have a decent box office battle on its hands.
Since the first Mission: Impossible movie was released in 1996, this action series has mainly served as prime popcorn-chomping, summer cinematic fun. The one exception was 2011's Ghost Protocol, which was released in December. Mission: Impossible 6 follows in Rogue Nation's footsteps as a late July release, and considering how financially successful that predecessor was, bringing in over $680 million worldwide, Paramount undoubtedly expect the sixth installment to perform similarly. Although the first three Mission: Impossible movies swam in critically-mixed waters, Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation were well-received by many fans and critics, so ideally Mission: Impossible 6 will keep that streak going.
No Mission: Impossible 6 plot details have been released yet, and the cast is still light on actors right now. Aside from Tom Cruise jumping back into action as Ethan Hunt, the only other person announced to return is Rebecca Ferguson, who debuted as Ilsa Faust in Rogue Nation. Jeremy Renner is also rumored to come back as William Brandt, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. Christopher McQuarrie is also returning to direct the flick and tackle the script. In late August, production was paused due to a monetary dispute between Tom Cruise and Paramount, though there were differing reports about what the specific problem was. Regardless, the issue was resolved in September. Now production is slated to begin in spring 2017, so work on the blockbuster wasn't delayed for too long.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the most relevant updates concerning Mission: Impossible 6 as more news comes in.
