Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was billed, at least initially, as Tom Cruise‘s final installment in the action-packed spy franchise.
However, in the weeks leading to the movie’s release, Cruise began to downplay Final Reckoning serving as his Mission: Impossible swan song, leading fans to ponder whether the actor had already decided to return for another go as Ethan Hunt.
Yesterday, DeuxMoi, an Instagram account known for publishing celebrity and Hollywood gossip, posted an unverified email with the subject line, Mission: Impossible 9, which read: “Chloé Zhao is in talks to write/direct. Tom sought her out, they’ve workshopped a treatment, script is underway.”
DeuxMoi’s track record is all over the place, with a tendency to be wrong more than right. However, the idea of Zhao directing a Mission: Impossible is just too tantalizing not to speculate on, as she would provide a creative reset the franchise desperately needs.
Before Christopher McQuarrie became the shepherd of Mission: Impossible, helming the past four installments — 2015’s Rogue Nation through 2025’s The Final Reckoning — the franchise had become known for its one-and-done list of directors. Brian De Palma, John Woo, J. J. Abrams, and Brad Bird all left their distinct mark on the franchise, for better or, in some cases, worse. Yet, that’s exactly what made each new Mission: Impossible worth watching.
The franchise arguably peaked with McQuarrie’s second entry, 2018’s Fallout, which remains both the highest-grossing and best-reviewed installment. However, his next two, which were billed as the aforementioned two-part “finale” for Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, while still well-received, stumbled at the box office, suggesting that maybe audiences were growing tired of the Impossible Mission Force.
Personally, The Final Reckoning was a hard miss, with unnecessary, yet substantial flashbacks, dropped storylines from the first part, Dead Reckoning, and character deaths that felt weightless. It’s not the film I wanted to see cap off Cruise’s 20-year Mission: Impossible run, and I’m likely not the only fan who feels that way.
This is why Zhao not only directing, but also writing the next Mission feels like a much-needed breath of fresh air for the franchise. She has continually proven her talent behind the camera, winning an Oscar for Nomadland. However, neither Nomadland nor last year’s Hamnet is why I think she has what it takes to elevate Mission: Impossible.
That’s right, I’m about to use Eternals to explain why Zhao is perfect for Mission: Impossible.
Eternals, while not the best film by any means, showed that Zhao is just as capable of handling a $200 million budget as she is with one under $1 million. But why care about budgets? Well, the last two Mission: Impossible movies saw their budgets balloon due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
Hiring someone who has worked primarily with smaller budgets will help keep costs low on the next Mission: Impossible, something that Paramount will definitely be requesting after the poor commercial performance of The Final Reckoning.
Okay, back to Eternals. The action and character dynamics are great. I’ll single out one scene in particular: Makkari fighting Ikaris. Never has superspeed looked this good on film. As we saw with the DCEU, Hollywood has a tendency to show superspeed by making everything super slow because the speedster, in this case, The Flash, is running so fast.
Not in Eternals, with Zhao showing Makkari using her speed to great success. It’s thrilling to watch as well as visually gorgeous. See for yourself…
I do not doubt that Zhao and Cruise could cook up some amazing practical stunts that would rival anything McQuarrie and Cruise put on the big screen during their four-film run.
Whether Zhao is in talks for Mission: Impossible 9 or not, I’m looking forward to seeing what the future of the franchise holds, as well as seeing Cruise step back into more awards-worthy fare like the upcoming Digger.
Does the rumored Mission: Impossible 9 story make you excited for the franchise’s future? Would you want to see Zhao direct Cruise in a movie?
