Tom Cruise's response to 'end of Mission: Impossible' question should leave fans worried

Tom Cruise’s response to whether the newest Mission: Impossible film will be the last has remained coy throughout the press run, however, fans should perhaps be worried that it could indeed be the end.

Tom Cruise has remained tight lipped on whether his newest blockbuster Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning will be the last of the series, referring to it in marketing as simply the ‘culmination of the franchise’.

Cruise has now starred in eight Mission: Impossible films spanning almost 30 years, returning for The Final Reckoning alongside Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Angela Bassett, and Pom Klementieff.

Add to that Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Nick Offerman, Holt McCallany, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Janet McTeer, and it may be one of the most stacked celebrity casts ever for a film not named Avengers: Endgame.

Alas, this may be explained by the fact that many believe that this will be Cruise’s final outing as the iconic special agent Ethan Hunt.

Speaking to Variety alongside director Christopher McQuarrie at the Cannes Film Festival, Cruise was tight-lipped about whether this was the end for the IMF.

He said when asked about this being the last in the series: “I’d rather just people see it and enjoy, and we’ve had an amazing time doing it and it’s been a lot of fun and I just want you all to enjoy it.

“Enjoy this and know everything is the culmination, [the series] has come to this moment right now.”

Whilst this may simply be a way to not give away whether he dies at the end, the real answer could simply be that Cruise and co do not know if they are going to return, something perhaps even more worrying than a definitive answer.

Fans worry the Mission: Impossible franchise may be coming to an end (Paramount Pictures)

Though the films are incredibly financially successful, peaking with Mission Impossible: Fallout’s $791 million box office, Dead Reckoning: Part One was a slight drop off.

Though the film made a still massively impressive $571 million, this fell just below the accepted logic that, to make a profit on a major Hollywood blockbuster, you have to make double your budget back, sometimes triple if the marketing push is massive.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning’s budget has yet to be exactly confirmed, with reports ranging from $300 million to a whopping $400 million, per The Hollywood Reporter.

On top of the mammoth cast of big names and massive stunts, the movies protracted production through COVID-19 and the strikes meant that costs skyrocketed on the film.

The new film features Cruise's most death defying stunt yet (Paramount Pictures)

This means that The Final Reckoning could be looking to have to make a record amount for a Mission Impossible film simply to turn a profit.

With Cruise’s return to the Top Gun films making $1.5 billion and the actor set to return to more dramatic roles in the new Alejandro G. Iñárritu production, his eyes may be turning elsewhere.

Whilst Cruise is always emphatic about how much he loves the Mission: Impossible films, if it doesn’t make upwards of $700-800 million, don’t be surprised if The Final Reckoning is the final time we see the actor hanging off the side of an airplane as Ethan.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning releases in cinemas May 21.