Mission: Impossible 8 Gets Release Update Fans Will Hate

Despite the WGA and AMPTP reaching a deal to end the Writers Strike, SAG-AFTRA remains on strike, with negotiations between the actors guild and producers yet to begin. Unfortunately, until they receive a fair deal, the industry isn't out of the woods, putting many of Hollywood's blockbusters set for a 2024 release in jeopardy.

"Mission: Impossible" fans should certainly be worried about the status of "Mission: Impossible 8," currently titled "Dead Reckoning Part Two." The sequel to 2023's "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," and the proposed finale to Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) story, halted production in July due to the ongoing strikes, and unless SAG gets a fair deal soon, it likely won't make its June 28, 2024 release date. According to Deadline, sources described next year's release schedule as "not real," questioning if unfinished films like "Mission Impossible 8," "Deadpool 3," and "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" will even meet their scheduled release dates.

Although there's growing optimism that the SAG strike could end soon, given the WGA's recent victory, they will rightfully continue boycotting productions if the actors don't get a fair deal. While we'd all love to see Ethan Hunt's death-defying stunts in theaters next year, fans should prepare for the worst regarding the release date of "Mission Impossible 8." Thankfully, they can watch "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" at home to pass the time.

Now that another delay could be on the horizon for "Mission: Impossible 8," fans may begin to question Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise's decision to split "Dead Reckoning" into two parts. However, the creative duo knew they needed to one-up "Mission: Impossible – Fallout," which many view as the franchise's peak, and if they wanted to achieve that, they needed more than two hours.

"'Fallout' really grew because of all the character and emotion we were putting into the story, all the things that we had discovered in 'Rogue Nation' that was so unexpected," McQuarrie told Collider at the premiere of "Dead Reckoning – Part One." "I knew I wanted to expand the cast, and I knew I wanted to give each one of those characters more to do, so I knew the movie was going to be bigger and longer than 'Fallout.' And at which point I said, 'Why are we fighting this? Why are we going to try to jam this into two hours? Let's just break it in half and make two movies.' That really was the rationale behind it being a two-part movie."

Whenever it eventually releases, McQuarrie and Cruise are billing "Mission: Impossible 8" as a send-off for Ethan Hunt, ending Cruise's nearly 30-year stint with the franchise. If that's the case, the character deserves a proper conclusion, which they, understandably, couldn't accomplish in a two-hour runtime. While more delays could be in store for "Dead Reckoning – Part Two," fans won't be too mad as long as it does Hunt and "Mission: Impossible" justice.