Mission: Impossible in 2026: Dead Reckoning Hits Netflix, Final Reckoning's Legacy, and Mission: Impossible 9 Rumors
The Mission: Impossible franchise is having a massive week. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is now streaming on Netflix, arriving on the platform this week after three years of box office controversy and critical reevaluation. Simultaneously, rumors about a Mission: Impossible 9 with Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao are setting the internet on fire.
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Is Now on Netflix
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning is now available to watch on Netflix — a significant moment given that Tom Cruise makes movies specifically for the big screen experience. Despite Dead Reckoning earning $571.1 million worldwide upon its 2023 release, the film was considered a box office disappointment given its massive budget — and Netflix represents a chance at broader audience redemption three years later.
Three years after release, Dead Reckoning is aging quite well. The film ended on a cliffhanger, serving as the first of a two-part installment — making it essential viewing ahead of The Final Reckoning, which is currently streaming on Paramount+.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning: Where the Franchise Stands
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning was released in theaters on May 23, 2025, and grossed $197.4 million in the United States and Canada and $401.4 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $598.8 million. With a $300 to $400 million budget, the film needed approximately $1 billion to fully recoup its theatrical investment — a threshold it did not clear.
Critics were divided — Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune called it "a satisfying capper to an eight-film franchise," while others found the first hour slow and the story overly reliant on exposition. The biplane stunt sequences drew near-universal praise as among the most technically remarkable action filmmaking of the decade.
Mission: Impossible 9 Rumors: Chloé Zhao and Tom Cruise Are Workshopping a Treatment
The franchise's future looked uncertain after The Final Reckoning — until this week. Gossip site Deuxmoi reported that Chloé Zhao is in talks to write and direct Mission: Impossible 9, that Tom Cruise sought her out, they have workshopped a treatment together, and a script is already underway.
If we are going to see a new Mission: Impossible movie with a redefined IMF roster, Hayley Atwell's reformed thief Grace would be the natural lead. Her late addition to the saga through Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning would make a lot more sense in a post-Ethan Hunt world. Zhao's Oscar win for Nomadland and her experience with large-scale spectacle on Eternals make her an intriguing — if unconventional — choice for the franchise.
Tom Cruise's Next Film: Digger Arrives October 2026
While Mission: Impossible 9 remains unconfirmed, Tom Cruise is not sitting still. The first teaser for Digger, a Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment comedy directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, has been released with an October 2026 release date.
Cruise plays Digger Rockwell — described as "the most powerful man in the world" who "embarks on a frantic mission to prove that he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything." The film marks Cruise's first comedy since Knight and Day in 2010 and Iñárritu's first English-language movie since The Revenant. The cast includes Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde, and Emma D'Arcy.
The Complete Mission: Impossible Franchise — All 8 Films Now Streaming
All eight Mission: Impossible films are currently available to stream. The complete franchise — from the original Mission: Impossible through The Final Reckoning — streams on Paramount+, with Dead Reckoning now additionally available on Netflix. The franchise spanning nearly 30 years remains one of Hollywood's most remarkable ongoing achievements in practical stunt filmmaking — and if the Mission: Impossible 9 rumors hold, Ethan Hunt may not yet have accepted his final mission after all.
