We’re coming up on one year since Mission: Impossible 7 kicked off principal photography, having been delayed from its original February 2020 start date in response to the pandemic. This extended shooting period is due to Mission: Impossible 7 filming back-to-back with Mission: Impossible 8, and cameras are still rolling on Ethan Hunt’s next two cinematic adventures. But as he’s frequently done over the last year, director/writer Christopher McQuarrie has shared another look at the production; this time it’s a picture of stars Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell as part of a thank you post.
Christopher McQuarrie took some time on Instagram to thank various people at the Grand Central, Birmingham shopping center and the Birmingham New Street railway station who were instrumental in Mission: Impossible 7 filming at those locations. More importantly though, check out this peek at Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and Hayley Atwell’s Grace that accompanied the filmmaker's gratitude:
It’s hard to say what’s happening in this scene, although if I had to guess, Ethan Hunt and Grace were conversing, and then Ethan noticed someone nearby, even a familiar face or an adversary spying on them. We’re a ways off from learning whether I’m right or not, but I suspect most people are thinking the same thing after looking at this picture: Tom Cruise looks snazzy in those aviators. This picture follows just a few days after Mission: Impossible 7 footage was shown at CinemaCon, which included Cruise pulling off an incredibly dangerous motorcycle stunt.
Plot details for Mission: Impossible 7 are still being kept under wraps, although since it’s filming back-to-back with Mission: Impossible 8, one could logically assume that their stories will closely be tied together. Christopher McQuarrie previously described Hayley Atwell’s Grace as being a “destructive force of nature,” while Atwell has said her character’s loyalties are “somewhat ambiguous.” Atwell is confirmed to appear in Mission: Impossible 8 too, and judging from her training and set photos/videos, she won’t be lacking in action-packed scenes.
Among the other new faces popping up in Mission: Impossible 7 are Esai Morales (who’s playing the main villain), Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Rob Delaney, Charles Parnell, Indira Varma, Mark Gatiss and Cary Elwes. The lineup of characters returning with Ethan Hunt include Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell, Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson Ilsa Faust, Vanessa Kirby’s Alanna Mitsopolis, Frederick Schmidt’s Zola Mitsopolis and Henry Czerny’s Eugene Kittridge. Angela Bassett was also supposed to return as Erika Sloane following her franchise debut in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, but COVID-19 complications scrapped those plans.
Mission: Impossible 7 opens in theaters on May 27, 2022, and will be available to stream on Paramount+ 45 days later. Mission: Impossible 8 will follow on July 7, 2023. Keep track of the other movies that will arrive next year with our 2022 release schedule.
