After several delays and production pauses, we are quickly approaching the release date of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1, set to hit theaters on July 14, 2023. The name of the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, as well as its sequel, was kept under wraps from audiences for a long time with the Dead Reckoning subtitle not being revealed until CinemaCon back in April of this year. But it seems that even some stars of the film were being kept in the dark. Simon Pegg recently spoke with Collider’s own Steve Weintraub about the upcoming action blockbuster, where Pegg revealed that he learned the name of the film along with all of us.
Weintraub asked Pegg how long the actor knew that the title of the next two films in the storied franchise would be Dead Reckoning, to which Pegg replied that it wasn’t director Chris McQuarrie or anyone on the project that revealed the name, but instead the film’s trailer.
“Do you know what? I found out on the day of the trailer and not from Chris McQuarrie. I found out from the trailer. No, no one told me. So I texted McQ and was like, ‘Dead Reckoning? Were you going to tell us that at some point?’ I heard it was going to be something else, but I like that. I like that because it reminds me of what … Land of the Dead was originally called Dead Reckoning. So finally, I get to be in a film called Dead Reckoning.”
While it was a reveal to Pegg, he also confirmed that it is a fitting title for the story that the two films are telling. When asked if the title makes sense, he said, “Oh, 100%. Yeah, absolutely.”
Weintraub also asked how filming for the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2, which began back in March, was going. Pegg replied,
“We’ve just started. So we’re right back to the beginning again. There’s still a couple of things to pick up with 7 because I think the way 8 evolves might determine a few things, which is a great luxury we have in this situation, being able to do two films back to back. But yeah, we are now officially in production of Dead Reckoning Part Two.”
Pegg joined the action-spy series in 2006 in Mission Impossible III as IMF technician Benji Dunn. He has appeared in every Mission: Impossible film since, with the most recent one being 2018’s Mission: Impossible — Fallout. The cast of the film will once again see Tom Cruise as the leading man as he is joined by Pegg as well as Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, and Cary Elwes with Esai Morales set to also appear as the film’s primary antagonist. It has also already been announced that Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, and Janet McTeer will be joining the cast of the follow-up film Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 2. McQuarrie is directing the film based on a script that he penned. Along with being the writer-director, he will also serve as a producer with Cruise, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, and Chris Brock.
The Dead Reckoning duology continues the long-running action spy film franchise dating back to 1996 with the first film based on the 1966 television series of the same name directed by Brian De Palma. Cruise has creative control over the franchise, which has been on an upward swing since the fourth film outing, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, with each subsequent film grossing more than the last, currently capping out with the previously mentioned Mission: Impossible — Fallout bringing in $800 million worldwide. Cruise himself has seen major success at the box office this year with Top Gun: Maverick being the highest crossing film of 2022, a feat that he will probably hope to replicate next year with Mission: Impossible.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is set to hit theaters on July 14, 2023, with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 currently filming and is currently scheduled to debut in theaters on June 28, 2024. Look for our full interview with Pegg for his Apple TV+ animated movie, Luck, tomorrow.