Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, the last installment in Tom Cruise’s popular action series, was met with a 7.5-minute-long standing ovation at its Cannes Film Festival world premiere, according to reports.
On Wednesday, the movie, which has already received rave reviews from early critics, was screened at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, where Cruise bid farewell to his beloved character, Ethan Hunt. Audiences cheered for nearly eight minutes at the film’s conclusion, Deadline reported.
“I’m very grateful, very grateful for 30 years to be able to entertain with this franchise,” the Oscar-nominated actor, 62, who has led all eight of the Mission: Impossible entries, told the crowd in a clip posted to X.
Addressing the film’s director, Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise continued to express his gratitude, saying: “Every step of the way, what you’ve done and how you’ve expanded it, how it just went beyond our expectations.
“Your absolute care, your talent; you’re absolutely brilliant, and you’re an amazing human being. It’s been a real privilege and pleasure. Look forward to making a bunch of other types of movies with you.”
Turning to the audience, Cruise continued: “We just want to thank you all. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you so much for allowing us to entertain you!”
The Final Reckoning comes two years after its predecessor, Dead Reckoning Part One, was released. In a continuation of the seventh movie, Hunt and his Impossible Missions Force team race against time to find the Entity, a rogue artificial intelligence with the power to destroy mankind.
Along with Cruise’s Hunt, the film welcomes the return of Hayley Atwell as pickpocket-turned-IMF ally Grace, and Pom Klementieff as once-evil-now-good assassin Paris. Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Esai Morales all reprise their roles, alongside Angela Bassett, who was last in 2018’s Mission: Impossible — Fallout.
Severance actor Tramell Tillman and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham will also appear.
The film marks the conclusion of a franchise than began in 1996, with Cruise not only starring, but making his debut as a producer, too. Cruise has become known for his stunts in the films, which have helped establish him as one of the leading action stars in Hollywood.
In a four-star review of the film for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey said that she “absolutely adored it,” writing: “This (potentially final) entry in the long-running franchise is inherently absurd, but who cares?”
“The Final Reckoning, final or not, presents us with a fascinating contradiction: Ethan Hunt is both a pure singular and a state of mind. He’s cinema as the madman dreamer’s paradise,” she added.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is out in U.S. theaters May 23.
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