NEW YORK (AP) — The eighth installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has been postponed a year, signaling a new wave of release schedule juggling for Hollywood studios as the actors strike surpasses three months of work stoppage.
Paramount Pictures on Monday shifted the release date of the next “Mission: Impossible” from June 28 to May 23, 2025. Production on the follow-up to Christopher McQuarrie’s “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” was paused in July while Tom Cruise and company embarked on an international promotion blitz for “Dead Reckoning.” (The sequel had been titled “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two” but is now simply listed currently as “Mission: Impossible.”)
“Dead Reckoning” ultimately grossed $567.5 million worldwide, falling shy of 2018 installment “Fallout” ($791.7 million globally) and the heady highs of Cruise’s summer 2022 blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.5 billion). The 163-minute-long action thriller, drew some of the best reviews of the 27-year-old movie franchise, but was quickly eclipsed by the box-office juggernauts of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
As Hollywood’s labor turmoil has continued, it’s increasingly upended release plans not just for movies this fall that want to wait until their stars can promote them (like “Dune: Part Two,” postponed to March), but some of next year’s top big-screen attractions.
A string of Marvel movies have previously shifted back, as did the third “Venom” film.
