Records are made to be broken. If there’s any modern franchise that understands that ethos the best, it’s the one with Tom Cruise running around and defying death in the most spectacular ways we’ve ever seen. When “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” debuts later this year, well, we now know it’s going to set yet another high-water mark for the entire property … and we’re not just talking about Cruise dangling off a biplane hundreds of feet in the air, holding his breath underwater for who knows how long, or any other stunt director Christopher McQuarrie has cooked up for us.
Advertisement
Speculation has been running rampant on social media lately (when does it not, to be honest?) concerning the runtime for the film, which everyone assumes will be bringing the “Mission: Impossible” film series to some sort of conclusion. Certain movie ticketing sites, for instance, have been listing estimated runtimes close to three hours long, a whopping amount that feels like it’s become more and more prevalent in recent years. Luckily, ComicBook.com did some digging and directly confirmed the actual figure with Paramount Pictures — and it’s pretty darn close. In a new record for the franchise, the theatrical cut of “The Final Reckoning” has been confirmed to stretch to 2 hours and 49 minutes. But what might seem like a butt-numbing amount of time for most movies instead feels like catnip to those of us invested heavily in this property and in the possibility that this could be Cruise’s swan song as Ethan Hunt. Based on how entertaining these blockbusters have been since McQuarrie took over with “Rogue Nation” and seemed committed to one-upping himself with every installment since then? The more the merrier, we say!
Advertisement
Here’s how the runtime for “The Final Reckoning” stacks up against the rest of the “Mission: Impossible” movies.
The Final Reckoning will be the longest Mission: Impossible movie ever
What exactly are Chris McQuarrie and Tom Cruise cooking with “The Final Reckoning”? We’re closer than ever to finding out for ourselves, with just weeks to go before the sequel — implied by the title to be the final one in the franchise — makes its way into theaters. Even if there’s still room for more, however, a jumbo-sized runtime would definitely feel appropriate. “Dead Reckoning” (which was previously titled “Dead Reckoning Part One” before the movie’s creatives rethought things during a lengthy delay) left us all on quite a cliffhanger, as Ethan Hunt narrowly survived motorcycling off a mountainside and subsequently parachuted off a train with the film’s MacGuffin firmly in hand. Though gaining the upper hand on the villainous artificial intelligence known as the Entity, the victory was far from complete. “The Final Reckoning” will (presumably) wrap up this two-part saga, and it’ll need every second it can spare in order to do it.
Advertisement
So, how does that runtime of 2 hours and 49 minutes compare with previous heavy-hitters in the franchise? To nobody’s surprise, “Dead Reckoning” was the previous record-holder, coming in at 2 hours and 43 minutes. Prior to that, the first three “Mission: Impossible” movies all hovered around the two-hour mark, only for the franchise’s runtimes to begin growing once McQuarrie came aboard (starting with his work as an uncredited writer on “Ghost Protocol”). For those of us who recall the relatively small-scale joys of Brian De Palma’s original “Mission: Impossible” in 1996, well, it’s a bit quaint to realize that this all started with a breezy spy movie that came in at 1 hour and 50 minutes. Ethan Hunt has more than earned the right to a story that’s a little more epic over these past decades, however, and we’ll absolutely be seated. Just make sure to get a small drink rather than a large one.
Advertisement
“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” hits theaters May 23, 2025.
