Here's the correct, chronological order of the Mission: Impossible movie franchise. Before the Tom Cruise movies, Mission: Impossible is an iconic spy show that began in the 1960s and revolved around the covert missions of the IMF. The series starred Peter Graves as Jim Phelps, with supporting players including the likes of Leonard Nimoy and Martin Landau. The show was later given a short-lived revival in the 1980s before Tom Cruise signed on to lead a movie adaptation in the 1990s. Prior to Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise tended to jump around genres, starring in dramas, comedies, and everything in between. As the franchise evolved he became more and more associated with action blockbusters and for his death-defying stunts.
The Mission: Impossible movies has arguably overtaken the original TV show in terms of iconic status, and is seen as one of the best ongoing franchises in Hollywood today. Parts seven and eight of the franchise are on the way, and while there are some rumors it could mark Tom Cruise's end in the Mission: Impossible franchise, excitement for Ethan Hunt's next adventure is as strong as ever. Even if the franchise is looking to wrap up sooner rather than later, each installment has delivered thrills to fans that can be revisited for years to come. Here's the correct viewing order for the franchise.
Every Mission: Impossible Movie In Chronological Order
- Mission: Impossible (1996)
- Mission: Impossible II (2000)
- Mission: Impossible III (2005)
- Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
- Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
- Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 (2024)
Mission: Impossible has changed considerably over its entries, including in the titling. While this is partly responsible for the franchise's longevity, it also means that knowing which order to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in — especially with the more recent entries — can be tricky. Numerous stylistic swaps and changes in narrative direction between installments add an extra layer to the challenge too. Brian De Palma brought his stylish stamp to the original movie, while action auteur John Woo came on for Mission: Impossible II. J.J. Abrams made his directorial debut with Mission: Impossible III after David Fincher and Joe Carnahan both dropped out.
The first three entries are easy to track in terms of chronology thanks to their handy Roman numerals, but Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol changed things up. Acclaimed animation director Brad Bird made his live-action debut with the fourth entry, but while the original plan was to have Hunt step aside for Jeremy Renner's new agent, it quickly became clear Cruise was still very much the lead, especially after filming the series' most famous setpiece where Hunt scales Dubai's Burj Khalifa.
Christopher McQuarrie came on to direct the fifth movie Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation in 2015, which introduced Rebecca Ferguson's fan favorite Ilsa Faust to the Mission: Impossible series. In a break from franchise tradition, McQuarrie returned for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which became the highest-grossing and is considered one of the franchise's best. McQuarrie will return once again for the upcoming seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible movies, which will be the series' first two-part story with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 set for release on July 14, 2023, and June 28, 2024, respectively.
How Many Mission: Impossible Movies There Are (And How Many Are Planned)?
So far, 6 Mission: Impossible movies have been released, with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Part 2 making up the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible movies when they are released. While Dead Reckoning Part 2 is expected to be Tom Cruise's final Mission: Impossible movie, director Christopher McQuarrie suggested reports may not be completely accurate:
"Let me tell you, I’ve been working with Tom Cruise for 15 years and I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve been standing next to the man, witnessed an event and then read about it in the trades the next day and none of what they describe is actually true.”
Intriguingly, McQuarrie and Cruise also have plans to work together after Dead Reckoning Part 2 releases in 2024:
“It’s kind of under wraps,” McQuarrie said. “It has neither a fuse nor a fuselage. Oh that’s not true… It does have some fuselages. It’s something we’ve talked about for a really long time. It’s way outside of what you’re used to seeing Tom do. It’s the kind of stuff I really love. It’s a little bit more in my wheelhouse. And yet it takes everything we’ve learned on this journey, which is making movies more and more about emotion and real emotional experiences.”
Is Mission: Impossible A Sequel To The Original TV Show & Do You Need To Watch It First?
Rumors abound that 1996's Mission: Impossible was intended to be a sequel to the original Mission: Impossible TV series (and the 1990 revival), and that much is backed up by original series co-star Martin Landau, who played Rollin Hand and who told MTV News that he and Peter Graves (who played Jim Phelps) turned down offers to appear:
"When they were working on an early incarnation of the first one - not the script they ultimately did - they wanted the entire team to be destroyed, done away with one at a time, and I was against that," he said. "It was basically an action/adventure movie and not 'Mission.' 'Mission' was a mind game. The ideal mission was getting in and getting out without anyone ever knowing we were there. So the whole texture changed. Why volunteer to essentially have our characters commit suicide? I passed on it. I said, 'It's crazy to do this.' The script wasn't that good either!"
Landau also said the decision to make Phelps the villain "really upset Peter, who protected that character with a vengeance" and Graves himself expressed his disappointment in an interview with CNN in 1996:
"I am sorry that they chose to call him Phelps. They could have solved that very easily by either having me in a scene in the very beginning, or reading a telegram from me saying, 'Hey boys, I'm retired, gone to Hawaii. Thank you, goodbye, you take over now.' "
That all suggests that the Mission: Impossible movies were initially intended to be canon to the TV series, but that changed when Jon Voight was cast as Jim Phelps and the Tom Cruise movies became an outright reboot. That means that while watching the original Mission: Impossible TV series changes how you view Cruise's Mission: Impossible movies, it is not necessary to watch the original series first.