Why the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie franchise endures after 3 decades and how it stacks up in terms of box office

The first Mission: Impossible film came out in 1996 when star Tom Cruise was 34 years old. Fast-forward to Memorial Day weekend 2025: Cruise is 62 and there’s speculation that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning could be the last movie in the franchise.

Is this just a marketing ploy to get fans in theaters to kick off the summer blockbuster season? Who knows. Let’s take a look at the history of these films, their box-office earning power, and what Cruise himself has said about the movies over the years.

A brief history of the Mission: Impossible franchise

The Mission: Impossible films are based on the 1966 TV series of the same name, which was created by Bruce Geller. Peter Graves, who played Jim Phelps on the series, didn’t appear in the first film and was in fact very disappointed with it because his character was made to be the villain in the story, as CNN reported.

Actor Jon Voight took the role. Even though this move upset other actors from the series and some fans, the box office numbers proved that fans soon got over this reversal of the source material.

The franchise’s first four installments had different directors, while the last four were helmed by Christopher McQuarrie. Cruise has been among the producers of the films from the beginning.

How does it stack up against other action franchises?

The Mission: Impossible films continue to jockey for the title of highest-grossing Tom Cruise movie, according to Screen Rant. Each new installment tends to beat the previous contender.

According to Box Office Mojo, the seven films in the franchise have earned a domestic lifetime gross of $1.3 billion, making Mission: Impossible the 23rd most-valuable movie franchise by that measure.

To put that in perspective, the Marvel super hero franchise—No. 1 on the list—has earned $12.8 billion, followed by Star Wars ($5.1 billion), Disney live-action reimaginings ($3.5 billion), and Spider-Man ($3.3 billion).

Compared to pure action-movie franchises, Mission: Impossible falls below James Bond ($2.3 billion) and the cars and costars of The Fast and the Furious ($2 billion), but it beats out Indiana Jones ($1.1 billion) and Tom Cruise’s own Top Gun franchise ($899 million).

Why do fans think this might be the last Mission: Impossible movie?

Originally, the latest two Mission: Impossible films were supposed to be a two-part story shot back-to-back.

The second film was initially called Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, with the name change being announced in October 2023. Part One was loved by critics but had a disappointing box office return.

Further complicating the matter, Final’s budget kept growing because of delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the actors’ and writers’ strikes.

These setbacks caused tension in the production process and may have even accelerated conversations of the film becoming a more definitive conclusion to the franchise. While the creative team has not publicly spoken out about the stress of the delays, the title change signals to fans this might be the last time Ethan Hunt saves the world.

“It is, I hope, the satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc,” director McQuarrie said in an interview with Empire in February. “I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate.”

Cruise also seemed to confirm the end of an era on the red carpet at the New York premiere.

“It’s the final! It’s not called ‘final’ for nothing,” he commented to the Hollywood Reporter. Two years ago he told the same publication he would make Mission: Impossible movies into his 80s. When asked about this, he clarified: “I actually said I’m going to make movies into my 80s; actually, I’m going to make them into my 100s.”

Since everything eventually seems to get a reboot these days, it is not far-fetched to believe audiences might see Ethan Hunt again, especially if the box office numbers are impressive.

No spoilers but several reviewers, including Clint Gage for IGN, point out that the plot of the film leaves room for future storytelling opportunities. Cruise has several film projects in development over the next several years so it does appear that it is goodbye—at least for now—to the beloved franchise.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters in the United States on Friday, May 23.