Tom Cruise reveals 'Mission: Impossible 7's ambitious title, first footage at CinemaCon

In a little more than a year, after several pandemic delays, we will finally see the next Ethan Hunt adventure. The seventh Mission: Impossible film is finally on the horizon, and on Thursday at CinemaCon, Tom Cruise revealed the film's very ambitious title. 

According to Deadline, Cruise didn't make the annual event for theatrical exhibitors in person this year, but he did make quite the impression, introducing the first footage for the new film via video while perched atop a biplane in preparation for yet another Mission: Impossible stunt on set with director Christopher McQuarrie. Before queuing up the footage, Cruise also revealed the film's title: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1. 

That's right. Get ready for the first-ever two-part Mission: Impossible movie story. 

According to Deadline, the footage featured the return of Kittridge, Henry Czerny's character from the very first film who hasn't been a part of M: I continuity since 1996. It was a big moment for Ethan Hunt's old boss, as he came with a warning for everyone's favorite secret agent. 

“Your days of fighting for the greater good are over,” he warned Hunt. “This is our chance to control the truth…the concepts of right and wrong for everyone for centuries to come. You’ve been fighting to save an ideal that doesn’t exist, never did. You need to pick a side.”

That ominous statement was accompanied by all the usual Mission: Impossible fanfare, including exotic locations, cool gadgets, and of course, the daring stunts that Cruise has pushed for in every single film. Dead Reckoning Part 1's signature stunt, according to The Wrap, is a shot in which Cruise, as Hunt, drives a motorcycle off a cliff. 

We've come to expect big things from the Mission: Impossible series, which is currently in the creative hands of Cruise and writer/director partner Christopher McQuarrie, but even by this franchise's standards, crafting a two-part story that will presumably just keep escalating is something exciting. It's not clear yet exactly what side Hunt has to pick in the conflict to come, but we know that when it arrives, it'll land with the kind of grand scale action we all know comes with the Mission: Impossible territory. 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 arrives July 14, 2023, with its sequel arriving June 28, 2024. In addition to Cruise and Czerny, the film will feature returning co-stars Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby, alongside new co-stars Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Indira Varma, and Cary Elwes.