‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Weighs Cannes Film Festival Debut

Ethan Hunt could be hitting the Croisette.

Though no decision has been made, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” is weighing a Cannes Film Festival bow, which could see Tom Cruise injecting some serious star power into the event. Paramount, which declined to comment for this article, will be releasing the movie in theaters on May 21, which falls during the second week of the festival. The film is intended to be Cruise’s last outing as the IMF spy.

Paramount has a rich history with the festival, and so does Cruise, whose last trip to Cannes – for “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022, was a triumph. The movie went on to gross $1.45 billion at the worldwide box office and even garnered six Oscar nominations, winning a statuette for best sound.

Some other American filmmakers also strongly tipped for to bring their latest pics to the glamorous festival, notably Spike Lee’s highly anticipated “High And Low” starring Denzel Washington, from A24 and AppleTV+; Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme,” starring an impressive cast (as always with Anderson’s movies) including Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, and Benedict Cumberbatch, from Focus and Universal Pictures; Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” about the production of Jean-Luc Godards’s cult film “Breathless,” from Paris-based ARP; and Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother,” starring Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits and Charlotte Rampling, from Mubi.

However, Apple’s Brad Pitt “F1” movie is unlikely to world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, sources say.

The Cannes Film Festival, with a selection curated by longtime chief Thierry Fremaux, has been thriving with back-to-back milestone editions. The latest one world premiered three of the awards season’s buzziest films, including a trio of best picture contenders: Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winning “Anora,” Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” and Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance.” However, more commercial movies don’t always benefit from a Cannes launch. “Top Gun” got a boost from its festival debut, but “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” suffered from a lackluster reception ahead of its premiere in 2023.

Brent Lang contributed to this report.

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