The first trailer for Mission: Impossible 7 was revealed at CinemaCon and demonstrated the greatest problem facing the franchise and Tom Cruise. Cruise unveiled the title of the latest installment in the franchise, Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1, during Paramount's presentation at 2022's CinemaCon. Both parts of Dead Reckoning are directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who has helmed the last two movies in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Rejoining McQuarrie are Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby, among others.
Although the trailer is yet to be seen by the public, the content of Mission: Impossible 7's trailer has been said to include Tom Cruise holding onto an airplane for dear life, a fight on a train, motorcycle chases, a horse chase, and a "massive stunt of Cruise launching off a cliff on a motorcycle in Norway," which the actor described at CinemaCon as "far and away the most dangerous thing" he has attempted in his career. The trailer also included the return of Henry Czerny's Eugene Kittridge, who has not appeared since the first Mission: Impossible movie in 1996. While Czerny's return may spring a surprise for some audience members, the descriptions of death-defying stunts in Mission: Impossible 7 will not, as they have become a hallmark of the series.
The abundance of stunt work in the series has become Mission: Impossible's greatest strength and its biggest problem. With every new movie, the Mission: Impossible franchise has to go one step further than the film before. In Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise had to hang onto the side of an Airbus 400, so in the next installment, Fallout, Cruise had to perform a HALO jump. Cruise's willingness to perform any stunt himself means that with each installment, he must place himself in more danger and under more physical stress to outdo what he has done previously. His dedication to stunt work poses the question of whether or not Mission: Impossible could work without Tom Cruise. Cruise remains onboard the project, however, and thankfully for the movies and audiences, he has pulled off every stunt to date, meaning that the series can continue to go bigger and bolder.
The description of the Mission: Impossible 7 trailer includes familiar sequences, such as motorcycle chases, which feature in several movies in the franchise. Additionally, the trailer also promises a horse chase, which will be a first for the franchise and significantly less spectacular in comparison to other stunts that were described. As such, Mission: Impossible could become a victim of its own impeccable standards, as less dangerous sequences like this may pale in comparison to helicopter fights in Mission: Impossible Fallout, for example. While the series does not live and die by its stunt work, it is one of the main reasons that Mission: Impossible has managed to live out of the shadow of similar franchises, such as James Bond and Bourne.
Nonetheless, Cruise's comments at CinemaCon indicate that the Mission: Impossible franchise is not afraid to go more dangerous and ridiculous than what has come before. While the stunts described imply that upcoming Mission: Impossible titles will include stunts that place Cruise and other stuntmen in increasing danger, it's a fantastic problem to have. The audacity of the stunts is one of the main reasons why the Mission: Impossible franchise is so attractive to audiences, and since Cruise always defies the odds and pulls the stunts off, it's likely that the stunts will not slow down anytime soon. Audiences who expect to see the impossible are unlikely to be disappointed by Mission: Impossible 7's train fight and motorcycle stunt off a cliff. These stunts promise that the Mission: Impossible franchise will continue to awe audience members, while retaining one of the key reasons why it has become so successful.
