Tom Cruise has been throwing himself out of buildings and helicopters in the name of the Mission Impossible franchise for nearly 30 years. Now, we know when it comes to an end for the 62-year old actor.
We don’t have an official confirmation of an exact release date, but it looks like the final installment of Tom Cruise’s iteration of Ethan Hunt is slated for a summer blockbuster memorial weekend release.
Playing a character for 30 years is no easy feat. It’s hard to come up with a list of movie characters that has spanned that amount of time achieving box office success at all of the stops along the way.
The “James Bond” films come to mind. While the Bond character has been around for over 60 years, no one actor has played the role consecutively for longer than Daniel Craig’s 16-year-run.
James Bond Producer Says They 'Haven't Even Begun' Reinventing Franchise After Daniel Craig's 007 Retirement: There's a 'Big Road Ahead' https://t.co/DywYKxTDE8
— Variety (@Variety) October 22, 2023
The “Rocky” franchise saw Sylvester Stallone’s character Rocky Balboa span 42 years but by the end of 2006 his status as a main character in these films came to an end. While Stallone was in Creed I & II, the character was a support role, and not a main role like Michael B. Jordan’s Donnie Creed was.
Luke Skywalker (and a few of the other Star Wars crew) have seen similar longevity. The franchise still exists today, however Luke, Yoda, Chewy and more are not playing roles that are currently front & center for Lucasfilms. In fact, there is a renewed urgency to reinvent the franchise after the 9th movie brought the main story to a close in 2019.
Regardless of how other franchises faded away, you can expect the final installment of Mission Impossible to be jam-packed with wild stunts, explosions, and fight choreography.
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