‘Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning’ Will Be The Franchise’s Longest Film Yet

TV + Movies

By Nina Sterle

Updated 11 hours ago, April 23, 2025

There’s a whole lot to explore within the Mission Impossible universe, and it’s one of the very few franchises where a long runtime is totally excusable. While the very first film of the franchise kept the runtime under two hours, that’s not been true for the more recent movies — in 2023, Cruise’s Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One hit an impressive 2 hours and 43 minutes of runtime. 

But Tom Cruise is known for doing stunts and breaking records, so it wouldn’t be a proper Mission: Impossible sequel if The Final Reckoning wasn’t even longer than every single one of its predecessors. The Final Reckoning will hit a total run time of 2 hours and 49 minutes — that’s just twelve minutes shorter than Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. An impressive feat for what may well be Cruise’s very last time playing Ethan Hunt.

While there has been talk of potential for more Mission: Impossible movies in the future, it’s possible that the franchise will take the James Bond approach and cast another titular character as the main character. It’s not likely that we’ll see anyone but Cruise play Ethan Hunt, but we may well see another team take over for the original Mission: Impossible crew.

Cruise hasn’t officially declared whether or not he’ll be returning to Mission: Impossible, but the film’s name certainly hints at the end of an era. There is still some hope for fans of the series, though, as both Cruise and the film’s director, Christopher McQuarrie, have stated that they hope to continue work on the franchise in the near future. Whether it will be as long as The Final Reckoning, we’re still not sure.

Regardless of whether this is truly the last Mission: Impossible film or not, it’ll certainly go out with a bang at a runtime that nearly hits 3 full hours. Best stock up on snacks if you’re planning on seeing this one in theaters.