The release of the next two films in the global blockbuster Mission Impossible franchise, tentatively being called Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8, have been delayed to 2023 and 2024 due to the pandemic, Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media said in a joint statement on Friday. Mission: Impossible 7 is now set to open in theatres worldwide on July 14, 2023, while Mission: Impossible 8 will arrive on the big screen on June 28, 2024. Earlier, M:I 7 was announced to be coming out this year on September 30, with plans for M:I 8 to be released on July 7, 2023. The latest release changes have come in view of the concerns of COVID-19. Initially, the film had been planned to open in cinemas in July 2020 before being pushed to December 2020 after which it was changed to November 19, 2021 and then moved again to May 27, 2022.
"After thoughtful consideration, Paramount Pictures and Skydance have decided to postpone the release dates for Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 in response to delays due to the ongoing pandemic. The new release dates will be July 14, 2023, and June 28, 2024, respectively. We look forward to providing moviegoers with an unparalleled theatrical experience," Paramount and Skydance said in their statement. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible – Fallout filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie is directing the seventh and eighth installments of the franchise, with the upcoming films also seeing the return of actors Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett, Henry Czerny, while Cary Elwes, Indira Varma, Rob Delaney and Charles Parnell are the new names joining the cast.
As of now, Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick is on schedule for a May 27, 2022 release. Both the M:I films and Top Gun: Maverick are films the superstar has been advocating to be watched on the big screen as he has been an exponent of the theatrical experience. Last August, Cruise and McQuarrie premiered the first footage from Mission: Impossible 7 to theater owners at CinemaCon that also included the much-hyped death-defying bike stunt sequence. McQuarrie during the presentation said in a video, "The only thing that scares me more is what we have planned for Mission 8."
