While production on Paramount's Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 is currently on an indefinite hiatus due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, director Chris McQuarrie recently made an appearance on the Light The Fuse podcast to share some interesting intel on what to expect in the highly-anticipated action sequels.
First off, he confirmed that both Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) and Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) will reprise their roles as Luther Stickell and the White Widow, respectively. Rhames is the only cast member, outside of franchise lead Tom Cruise, to appear in every installment and this continues the trend.
Additionally, McQuarrie revealed that 2x Primetime Emmy-nominated composer Lorne Balfe (Mission: Impossible - Fallout) will return to score both installments. His recent credits include Marvel's Black Widow, Bad Boys for Life, 6 Underground, Gemini Man, Pacific Rim: Uprising, 12 Strong, Ghost in the Shell, The LEGO Batman Movie, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, and Terminator Genisys.
Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 are headlined by Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) as IMF ace Ethan Hunt, as well as fellow returning stars Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible - Fallout), who is set to reprise her role as Ilsa Faust, and Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible - Fallout), who reprises his role as Benji Dunn. Newcomers to the storied action franchise include Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Endgame), Pom Klementieff (Avengers: Endgame), Shea Whigham (Joker) and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: Dark Phoenix). Henry Czerny (Sharp Objects) has also been confirmed to reprise his role as Eugene Kittridge from the first film.
Having received confirmation on both Rhames and Kirby, the picture is becoming a bit clearer on who will ultimately compose Ethan Hunt's team for his seventh and eighth adventures, and now, we await word on whether some combination of Jeremy Renner (William Brandt), Angela Bassett (Erica Sloane), Paula Patton (Jane Carter) and/or Maggie Q (Zhen Lei) will also be back.
Both sequels are expected to film back-to-back, with Mission: Impossible 7 set to light the fuse in theaters on November 19, 2021, while its sequel, Mission: Impossible 8, will open the following fall on November 4, 2022.