Tom Cruise no longer runs on rooftops; he now runs straight into standing ovations. The 62-year-old megastar was the toast of the Cannes Film Festival this week, where "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" made its hotly anticipated debut inside the iconic Grand Théâtre Lumière on Wednesday, May 14.
The reception included five whole minutes of clapping, cheering, and likely a few misty-eyed superfans. Variety reports that Cruise soaked it all in with a humble smile, surrounded by director Christopher McQuarrie and a star-studded cast that included Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Hannah Waddingham, Angela Bassett, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, and Greg Tarzan Davis.
A Curtain Call for Ethan Hunt?
Cruise, who has been playing superspy Ethan Hunt since 1996, stood before the Cannes crowd and gave them a heartfelt thank-you for the decades-long ride.
"I'm very grateful," Cruise told the crowd in a video shared by The Hollywood Reporter's Chris Gardner. He then turned to McQuarrie, his longtime collaborator and "Mission: Impossible" architect since 2015's "Rogue Nation," and gave him his flowers.
"Every step of the way, what you've done, how you've expanded it, how you just went beyond our expectations... absolutely brilliant," Cruise said.
McQuarrie, who's directed four "M:I" films and is now basically the co-pilot of Cruise's action-fueled cinematic jet, joined Cruise earlier in the day for a Cannes master class. The two unpacked the making of "The Final Reckoning" and its wildest stunts, a hallmark of the franchise that now practically requires Cruise to risk his life on-camera just to keep our popcorn fingers clenched.
Will He Or Won't He (Come Back)?
Now the big question: Is this really Ethan Hunt's final mission? Fans and reporters tried to get Cruise to spill the beans during the Cannes press run. His response? Classic Cruise non-answer with a wink. "Just let us show the movie tonight," he said. "This is like 30 years' culmination of this... I'd rather people just see it and enjoy."
That said, Cruise did drop a pretty juicy hint about future collaborations with McQuarrie. So, even if Hunt decides to hang up his spy gear, Cruise's blockbuster career isn't retiring anytime soon.
A Franchise That Rewrote the Action Rulebook
Since its debut in 1996, the "Mission: Impossible" franchise has redefined what it means to be an action movie. Each installment outdid the last — from scaling the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol to that mind-melting HALO jump in Fallout — turning Cruise into cinema's last great stuntman.
And "The Final Reckoning" looks to be upping the ante again. Picking up right after 2023's Dead Reckoning (formerly subtitled "Part One" before the team wisely decided to ditch the Part Two confusion), this final(?) chapter sees Hunt and his Impossible Mission Force battling an all-powerful AI called "The Entity."
Coming Soon: "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" opens in theaters worldwide on May 23. Will it be Ethan Hunt's final bow? Or is Cruise just getting started on his next impossible mission?