This summer, Tom Cruise will return as Ethan Hunt for a seventh time in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.

Back in 1996, few expected an enduring franchise to emerge from Mission: Impossible. In the 26 years since Brian De Palma’s taut espionage thriller was first released, we’ve seen five sequels, four different directors, and a film series that has cemented itself as one of the slickest action film series that Hollywood has ever put out.

After numerous production setbacks, we’re finally about to experience the seventh Mission: Impossible movie in 2023.

Read more: Tom Cruise did over 500 skydives for biggest stunt yet

Titled Dead Reckoning Part One, it immediately follows on from the events of 2018’s Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and is the first of a two-part swansong for Tom Cruise’s thrill-seeking superspy Ethan Hunt.

Here’s everything we know about Dead Reckoning so far…

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One release date

Dead Reckoning Part One will finally hit cinemas on the 14 July, 2023. Production was initially supposed to commence in February 2020, but the Covid pandemic halted proceedings to such an extent that the cameras only began rolling seven months later.

Several reports emanating from the Dead Reckoning set since the original delay would confirm a number of hold-ups, including a leaked audio recording of Cruise lambasting crew members for not following Covid prevention protocol.

It would take a year and a half from when filming was supposed to begin that principal photography had finally wrapped up in September 2021.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One director and writer

After writing and directing the previous two Mission: Impossible movies in Fallout and 2015’s Rogue Nation, Christopher McQuarrie is back again to helm Dead Reckoning.

The filmmaker has also enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Cruise, having worked with him on both Jack Reacher and critical darling Top Gun: Maverick — with the latter currently in the running for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One plot

For a film that’s scheduled for a worldwide release this summer on 14 July, it’s somewhat surprising that Dead Reckoning’s plot is still under wraps at the time of writing.

A pulsating trailer was dropped back in May 2022 though, which revealed little on the film’s central premise but showcased the thrills and stunts that we’ve grown accustomed to and have adored over the years.

Watch a trailer for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Given that both Dead Reckoning sequels are believed to mark the closing chapters of Hunt’s escapades, it’s very likely that we’ll see a few faces from his past that may turn out to be deadly threats for his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team.

Read more: Tom Cruise's most daring stunts

As explicitly shown in the trailer, we know that there will be at least three major action set-pieces that will definitely happen in Dead Reckoning: Cruise ramping off a cliff on a motorcycle before jumping off and opening a parachute, a city-wide car chase that leaves Rome in tatters, and Cruise and Morales fighting atop a high-speed train before it crashes in another homage to the first movie.

Watch: Go behind the scenes on Mission: Impossible 7's big stunt

Cruise stated that the motorcycle stunt was “by far and away the most dangerous thing” they’ve ever attempted, leaving little doubt that more rip-roaring sequences will be revealed once the official trailer drops nearer to Dead Reckoning’s release.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One cast

Joining Cruise’s Hunt is his core team of tech whiz Luther Stickell and fellow field agent Benji Dunn (Pulp Fiction’s Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead respectively), with Dune’s Rebecca Ferguson making her return as former MI6 operative Ilsa Faust.

The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby also reprises her part as Alanna Mitsopolis, a mysterious arms dealer who stole the show in Fallout.

Others confirmed for Dead Reckoning include Hayley Atwell (Captain America), Shea Whigham (Joker), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy), and La Bamba’s Esai Morales — who replaced Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) as the film’s lead antagonist.

Perhaps the most notable cast addition so far has to be Henry Czerny, who reunites with Cruise’s Hunt as former IMF director Eugene Kittridge — a character we haven’t seen since the first movie way back in 1996. Czerny’s Kittridge is definitely an intriguing addition to Dead Reckoning, and all signs point to him playing a major role in connecting the dots to Hunt’s storied past.

Having cemented itself in the pantheon of seminal action franchises over the years, the Mission: Impossible film series is on course to unleash another winner in Dead Reckoning Part One.

With Part Two scheduled for release next year, expect more questions to be answered in the coming months that’s sure to excite adrenaline junkies craving more death-defying antics from Cruise and company.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One will arrive in cinemas on 14 July, 2023. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two will be released on June 28, 2024.