One audience member says they were “suffocating throughout the entire sequence”

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

(Image credit: Paramount)

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie says the upcoming eighth instalment of the Tom Cruise-led action franchise features “the most difficult thing” they’ve ever done in the series – and it’s already received a perfect first reaction from an early viewer.

“We had a small screening and someone said, ‘I was suffocating throughout the entire sequence. I almost had a heart attack.’ And I thought, ‘I guess we did something right,” McQuarrie told Empire of the unnamed sequence.

If you’ve already seen the first trailer for The Final Reckoning, you might be able to narrow it down to a handful of death-defying stunts. They include, but aren’t limited to, Ethan Hunt hanging from a biplane, several high-octane fights, and an underwater section that even saw Cruise himself prepare with a degree of nervousness in a recent behind-the-scenes clip.

The Final Reckoning title and ties to its franchise past in the shape of Mission: Impossible 3’s Rabbit’s Foot all indicates that this is going to act as a farewell to Ethan Hunt – but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Besides, the audience has to survive this one first.

 Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Vanessa Kirby, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Pom Klementieff, hits cinemas on May 23, 2025.

For more, check out our movie release dates calendar. Then your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to head on over to our ranking of the best Mission: Impossible movies.