tom cruise movies list chronological order

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All Tom Cruise movies, in order

It’s difficult to pinpoint what Tom Cruise really means to the history of blockbuster cinema, not just for his astounding body of work, but also for the range he puts on display, whether it be historical epics, action blockbusters, or even sci-fi spectacles.

With four Academy Award nominations, a career spanning five decades, and movies grossing over $11.5 billion worldwide, Tom Cruise is a titan of Hollywood and all it stands for . In fact, one could go so far as to suggest that as far as movie stars go, they don’t make them like this anymore. Cruise has the charisma and looks that would make any actor a commercial darling, but his acting chops and infamously crazy stunts also make him stand out.

The legendary thespian can be an action hero in a Mission: Impossible movie and then follow it up with a heart-wrenching performance like Born on the Fourth of July . He can be the lovable Jerry Maguire and then be as chilling as Vincent is in 2004’s Collateral . You name the role, and the chameleon that he is, Tom Cruise will be there to give his 100% and make it work.

But how many movies has he been in, and how many of them have you seen? Let’s take a look at Tom Cruise’s filmography to get a better understanding of his enviable career.

All the movies Tom Cruise has starred in, broken up by decade

The beloved Hollywood icon began his work with Endless Love and Taps , both released in 1981, but his most significant role from that era undoubtedly goes to Maverick in Top Gun .

• Endless Love (1981)
• Taps (1981)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Losin’ It (1983)
• Risky Business (1983)
• All the Right Moves (1983)
• Legend (1985)
• Top Gun (1986)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• Cocktail (1986)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Now a genuine movie star, Tom Cruise had his pick of projects, which led to possibly the best decade of his career and the main reason he is now a household name all over the world. Outstanding performances from A Few Good Men , Jerry Maguire , and Eyes Wide Shut alongside the start of his Mission: Impossible saga make the Tom Cruise movies from the 1990s the most enjoyable ones to watch.

• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Far and Away (1992)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• The Firm (1993)
• Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)

Tom Cruise continued his 90s success into the 2000s with the critically acclaimed Vanilla Sky , the blockbuster sci-fi hit Minority Report, and the brilliant historical epic The Last Samurai .

• Mission: Impossible II (2000)
• Vanilla Sky (2001)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
• The Last Samurai (2003)
• Collateral (2004)
• War of the Worlds (2005)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• Lions for Lambs (2007)
• Tropic Thunder (2008)
• Valkyrie (2008)

As Hollywood moved away from the idea of a global movie star and into the age of franchises like Marvel, actors like Tom Cruise became a rare commodity in the industry. Cruise still had the pull to rope in audiences, which he combined with his vast experience in producing, turning Mission: Impossible into a top-tier action franchise once again. He also starred in the now-cult classic Edge of Tomorrow . Duds like 2017’s The Mummy and two Jack Reacher movies were inevitable, of course, but he still ended the decade on a high note.

• Knight and Day (2010)
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Rock of Ages (2012)
• Jack Reacher (2012)
• Oblivion (2013)
• Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
• The Mummy (2017)
• American Made (2017)
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Well into his fifth decade as a professional actor, Tom Cruise is still going strong. His one-man mission to make a Top Gun sequel was a massive success, grossing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide and garnering a host of new fans, not to mention thawing the industry out of a Covid-induced daze.

These are Tom Cruise’s movies in the ongoing decade so far, discernibly lacking variety as well as multitude:

• Top Gun: Maverick (2021)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
• Untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film (2025)

That’s going to be it for Tom Cruise’s filmography, but since the star is showing no sign of slowing down, this list is only bound to get longer.

How to Watch the 'Mission: Impossible' Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date)

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch one of the best action franchises of all time.

The Big Picture

• Tom Cruise has been the face of the Mission: Impossible franchise for 25 years, playing the daring and intelligent Ethan Hunt.
• The franchise has released seven films so far, with Mission: Impossible 8 coming in summer of 2025.
• The movies can be watched in either release date order or chronological order, with each installment building upon the previous ones.

Tom Cruise helped revive a franchise in 1996 when he starred in the first Mission: Impossible film as Ethan Hunt, a member of a fictional spy agency called Impossible Missions Force, or IMF. The first film kicked off a successful movie franchise that's run for 25 years, with the number of Mission: Impossible nearing the double digits. The entire series focuses on the daring and intelligent Hunt, and while playing the same character for more than two decades is no small feat, Cruise makes the impossible look easy. While Cruise has been onboard for all of the Mission: Impossible films — seven so far, with the eighth having stopped filming due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike — the other actor who’s been by his side since day one is Ving Rhames , who plays Luther Stickell, an expert hacker at IMF and Hunt’s most trusted friend. Over the years, many great actors like Jon Voight , Philip Seymour Hoffman , and Angela Bassett have had roles in the franchise, whether as allies or antagonists to Hunt.

Thankfully, for anyone wondering how to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in chronological order or by release date, the action spy franchise isn’t as complicated as Hunt’s “impossible” missions. Here’s a straightforward guide.

Editor's Note: This article was updated on November 5, 2023.

Mission: Impossible

An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.

Mission Impossible Movies In Order of Release Date

Here’s every film in the Mission: Impossible movie franchise, in the order they were released in:

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Mission: impossible 2 (2000), mission: impossible iii (2006).

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Mission Impossible Movies in Chronological Order of Events

The timeline of the Mission: Impossible franchise is pretty straightforward, but if you're wondering when Cruise climbed the Burj Khalifa, how many movies Ilsa Faust has been in, or who's been on Ethan Hunt's IMF team the longest, we've got you covered. Here's a breakdown of how to watch the Mission: Impossible films in chronological order and the important details to remember:

Based on the TV series of the same name that ran from 1966 to 1973, Mission: Impossible , the first film in what is now a multi-billion-dollar-earning franchise, takes the original story and turns it on its head. When a whole team of IMF agents is killed during a mission, Cruise’s Hunt is left as the only survivor. Unfortunately, surviving doesn’t do him much good, as IMF, in turn, suspects Hunt of being a mole in the organization and the one responsible for the killings. In order to prove his innocence, Hunt goes on the run in search of the real mole, intent on stopping them before they do any more damage. Along with Cruise and Rhames, Mission: Impossible also stars Voigt as Jim Phelps, one of the original series’s characters, Vanessa Redgrave as an arms dealer named Max, as well as Kristin Scott Thomas and Emilio Estevez as other major characters. Directed by Brian De Palma , the 1996 film is more of a contained, paranoid spy thriller, and ultimately, the franchise goes above and beyond the first film’s story and action sequences, but Mission: Impossible will always be the one that started it all.

Released four years after the first film, Mission: Impossible 2 , directed by John Woo, features the return of Hunt and the IMF, as Hunt is tasked with finding and disposing of a biochemical weapon called “Chimera.” The villain of this mission is a former IMF agent named Sean Ambrose, played by Dougray Scott . Other new additions to the cast are Thandiwe Newton as Nyah Nordoff-Hall, Ambrose’s ex-girlfriend who helps Hunt accomplish his task, as well as Brendan Gleeson as John C. McCloy, the CEO of Biocyte, the company that creates both the Chimera weapon and its antidote, “Bellerophon.” Ambrose aims to start a pandemic so that he can earn billions of dollars by selling the antidote, and Hunt and Nyah must secure the virus before it’s too late. The second film in the Mission: Impossible franchise ups the ante, with Hunt traveling all the way to Sydney, Australia to chase down Ambrose, and the action sequences are jam-packed in typical Woo fashion .

The third film in the Mission: Impossible franchise took a really long time to be released, with six years between 2000’s Mission: Impossible 2 and 2006’s Mission: Impossible III . The third outing for IMF agent Hunt introduces two more key characters to the story — Michelle Monaghan as Hunt's fiancée, Julia Meade, and Simon Pegg ’s Benji Dunn, an IMF technician and trusted teammate of Hunt’s. In Mission: Impossible III , Hunt attempts to retire from fieldwork and settle down with Julia, but the organization can’t seem to let him go. He is called in to rescue a kidnapped agent and stop an arms dealer named Owen Davian ( Seymour Hoffman ) from receiving a dangerous MacGuffin called the “Rabbit’s Foot.” All the while, Hunt tries to keep the secret of his real job from Julie, but despite his efforts, she gets dragged into danger anyway. Directed by J.J. Abrams , the third Mission: Impossible film also features many other fantastic actors, including Laurence Fishburne , Keri Russell , and Billy Crudup .

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

In the new decade, this is where the action franchise really hits its stride. The first Mission: Impossible film to have a subtitle, 2011’s Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol does not disappoint. After a mission goes terribly wrong, ending with the Kremlin blowing up, the U.S. government disavows IMF in what is known as the “Ghost Protocol,” leaving Hunt and his team alone and without backup. Along with Cruise, Rhames, Pegg, and Monaghan, the fourth Mission: Impossible film also stars Jeremy Renner , Paula Patton , Michael Nyqvist , and Léa Seydoux . While Hunt’s previous missions have involved traitor agents and virus weapons, this particular adventure features Hunt working to prevent a nuclear war. The stakes are higher than ever, and Hunt must overcome both physical and emotional hardships in order to do his job and save the world. The Iron Giant and Incredibles director Brad Bird made his live-action debut with Ghost Protocol , and the film is a major step up from the previous three, escalating the action set-pieces (most notably, Cruise's instantly iconic climb up the Burj Khalifa ) and introducing a more ensemble-driven approach the franchise is still embracing today.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Enter Rebecca Ferguson . Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is the fifth film in the Mission: Impossible series that never seems to stop. Alongside Alec Baldwin , Sean Harris , and Tom Hollander , this movie marks the first appearance of Ferguson's Ilsa Faust , an MI6 agent who encounters Hunt while undercover in the Syndicate crime organization; an international group of spies who went rogue. Ferguson’s character is definitely one of the most complicated of the series so far, and she adds new life and intrigue to the franchise. After Hunt is captured by the Syndicate, led by Harris’s character Solomon Lane, he is tortured for information and later escapes with Faust’s help. The Syndicate’s main goal is to reconstruct the world order through a series of violent terrorist attacks, and of course, Hunt gets blamed for the crimes, leaving him constantly on the run. It’s an age-old story. Hunt gets involved with a huge conspiracy then gets framed and must go on the run, relying on his amazing skills as an agent to take the Syndicate down before they can complete their plan. Considering that this formula has gotten the franchise this far, there’s really no reason to change it up, but director Christopher McQuarrie makes it feel fresh and new with extraordinary stunts and a deeper interest in Hunt as a character. It's no wonder that he's the only filmmaker to date to stick with the franchise for multiple sequels.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Mission: Impossible - Fallout follows Hunt, Faust, and the rest of Hunt's now-familiar team as they work to stop what’s left of the Syndicate. The organization has reformed as the Apostles, led by an unknown figure known as John Lark. After a mission to secure stolen plutonium cores doesn’t go well, Angela Bassett, finally joining the franchise as CIA Director Erika Sloane, assigns Henry Cavill ’s August Walker to oversee Hunt’s future missions. Meanwhile, an arms dealer named Alanna Mitsopolis, or the White Widow (a new character played by Vanessa Kirby ) causes trouble for Hunt and the IMF by stealing the plutonium to make a deal. According to Mitsopolis’s offer, Hunt must secure Lane (the villain from the previous movie) and deliver him to MI6, and she will give him the plutonium cores for the CIA and IMF. Of course, very little goes according to plan, as Hunt discovers that the person known as Lark is closer than he thought. Set two years after Rogue Nation , the two films’ plots are heavily intertwined, so it’s best to watch them together if you can.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

The latest chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One features even bigger stunts than ever before and adds a host of exciting new cast members, including Hayley Atwell , Pom Klementieff , Shea Whigham, Esai Morales , Indira Varma , Cary Elwes , and Mark Gatiss , among others. Christopher McQuarrie once again wrote and directed the movie and will be doing the same for MIssion: Impossible 8 . The film introduces a new threat involving a familiar face, an organization known as the Community. It is by far the biggest film in the series, both in terms of cast and scope.

What's Next?

With every new installment, the Mission: Impossible franchise gets better and better. And while Dead Reckoning Part One may just be the best it's ever been, Cruise and McQuarrie will be looking to top that with Mission: Impossible 8 . However, the film has been delayed multiple times and has undergone a quiet name change. As of now, the eighth part of Ethan Hunt's story is set to premiere on Memorial Day, May 23, 2025.

Watch the Mission: Impossible franchise on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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A Brief History of Tom Cruise’s Impressive Filmography

Tom Cruise is such a staple in American cinema that it’s easy to take him for granted. Since the early 1980s, he’s been cranking out hit after hit, becoming one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors and consistently making blockbusters that shatter box office records.

In the past five decades, Cruise’s movies have grossed more than $11.5 billion worldwide. Oh, and he also does all his own stunts! The man himself may be an enigma, but there’s no denying the role he’s played in cinematic history.

In 2022, his return to the Top Gun universe even managed to lure pandemic-wary moviegoers back to theaters. Top Gun: Maverick grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office and became one of the highest-grossing movies in history. As a result, according to Variety , Steven Spielberg told Cruise he “saved Hollywood’s a** and [ … ] might have saved theatrical distribution.”

Cruise began his career like so many others, journeying to New York City to bus tables while trying to become an actor, eventually moving to the West Coast and signing with a talent agency. He got attention on sets right away, landing small roles in both Endless Love and Taps in 1981. The Hollywood Reporter states that Cruise’s role in Taps was expanded after director Harold Becker noticed the actor was “out-marching the other cadets on the parade field,” which totally fits everything we know about Cruise now!

All of Tom Cruise’s films, in order

Below is a list of all of the movies Cruise has made since he first boarded that Greyhound to NYC back in the early ’80s. Our favorites are in bold.

– Endless Love (1981)

– Taps (1981)

The Outsiders  (1983)

Welcome to the Brat Pack! Cruise’s first big break came when he was selected to join the ensemble of The Outsiders , directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Cruise joined fellow young rising stars C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane, yet he still managed to stand out on screen.

– Losin’ It (1983)

– Risky Business (1983)

This movie was transformative and really put Cruise on the map as a leading man. Who could forget the shirt-no-pants dance scene? Or the train scene with Rebecca De Mornay? Is it hot in here?

– All The Right Moves (1983)

– Legend (1985)

Tim Curry! A very young Mia Sara! David Bowie in a cod piece! This movie has it all.

Top Gun  (1986)

You might have an inkling of how huge this movie was when it came out, but you’re probably underestimating it. Seriously, it was massive ! Money-wise, it grossed $357 million globally and was the highest-grossing domestic film of the year. Anecdotally, everyone was buying Ray-Bans and bomber jackets and rewinding that love scene with Kelly McGinnis until we wore out the VHS tape.

– The Color of Money (1986)

Just when we thought he couldn’t get more popular, he made a movie about shooting pool with Hollywood legend Paul Newman.

– Cocktail (1986)

– Rain Man (1988)

Born on the Fourth of July  (1989)

Cruise won a Best Actor Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran who co-wrote the biographical screenplay with director Oliver Stone. Cruise also received the first of four Academy Award nominations. His star was truly rising by now. People magazine named him 1990’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”

– Days of Thunder (1990)

– Far and Away (1992)

– A Few Good Men (1992)

Cruise and Jack Nicholson proved to be a riveting pair to watch on screen. “You can’t handle the truth!”

– The Firm (1993)

– Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

Audiences didn’t love him as Lestat, but the film was critically acclaimed nevertheless.

– Mission: Impossible (1996)

The movie that kicked off a billion dollar franchise!

– Jerry Maguire (1996)

“Show me the money!” Cruise received a second Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a second Academy Award nomination for this romantic comedy, which co-starred Renee Zellweger.

– Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

– Magnolia (1999)

Cruise earned a third Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a motivational speaker, but he missed out on an Academy Award for a third time.

– Mission: Impossible II (2000)

– Vanilla Sky (2001)

– Minority Report (2002)

– Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

– The Last Samurai (2003)

– Collateral (2004)

– War of the Worlds (2005)

– Mission: Impossible III (2006)

– Lions for Lambs (2007)

– Tropic Thunder (2008)

An unrecognizable Cruise plays a ribald studio executive producer who was reportedly modeled after Harvey Weinstein.

– Valkyrie (2008)

– Knight and Day (2010)

– Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2001)

– Rock of Ages (2012)

– Jack Reacher (2012)

– Oblivion (2013)

– Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

– Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

– Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

– The Mummy (2017)

– American Made (2017)

– Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Top Gun: Maverick  (2021)

Maverick is back to fight unnamed U.S. enemies, romance an age-appropriate new love interest (Jennifer Connelly), and oh yeah, save Hollywood! With a cast full of easy-on-the-eyes new fly boys and girls, it’s easy to see why Top Gun: Maverick was such a smash hit .

– Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)

What’s next?

-Untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film (2025)

More Mission: Impossible movies … yay? Oh well, it’s not like we don’t have a ton of other movies in the Tom Cruise catalog to occupy our time. This guy sure has been busy for these past few decades!

(featured image: Paramount Pictures)

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All Tom Cruise Movies in order with Box office Collection

Tom Cruise is one of the most successful and popular actors in Hollywood . He has starred in over 40 films, many of which have been box office successes. Here is a list of all of Tom Cruise movies in order of their release date, along with their box office collection and budget:

Tom Cruise Movies in order: Release Date, Budget and Box Office

Release date.

Endless Love

$12 million

$10 million

$15 million

July 29, 1988

$20 million

$171.5 million

May 18, 1988

$56 million

Dec 12, 1988

$25 million

$354.8 million

Born on the Fourth of July

Dec 20, 1989

$162 million

Days of Thunder

$60 million

$157.9 million

Far and Away

$137.8 million

A Few Good Men

Dec 9, 1992

$40 million

$243.2 million

June 23, 1993

$50 million

Interview with the Vampire

Nov 9, 1994

$223.7 million

Mission: Impossible

May 20, 1996

$80 million

$457.7 million

Jerry Maguire

$273.6 million

Eyes Wide Shut

July 13, 1999

$162.8 million

Dec 8, 1999

$37 million

$48.5 million

Mission: Impossible II

May 24, 2000

$546.4 million

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

  Feb 17, 2001

Vanilla Sky

Dec 10, 2001

$203.4 million

Space Station 3D

April 17, 2002 

$127.6 million

Minority Report

June 21, 2002

$100 million

$358.4 million

Austin Powers in Goldmembe

July 22, 2002

$63 million

$296.7 million

The Last Samurai

Dec 20, 2003

$140 million

$456.8 million

Aug 6, 2004

$220.9 million

War of the Worlds

June 28, 2005

$135 million

$603.9 million

Mission: Impossible III

May 5, 2006

$150 million

$398.5 million

Lions For Lamb

Nov 9, 2007

$35 million

$63.2 million

Tropic Thunder

Aug 13, 2008

$195.7 million

Dec 25, 2008

$90 million

$201.5 million

Knight and Day

June 16, 2010

$262 million

Dec 16, 2011

$145 million

$694.7 million

Rock of Ages

June 13, 2012

$75 million

$59.4 million

Jack Reacher

  Dec 19, 2012 

$218.3 million

April 19, 2013

$287.9 million

Edge of Tomorrow

June 6, 2014

$178 million

$370.5 million

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

$160 million

$682.7 million

Oct 21, 2016 

$162.1 million

June 9, 2017

$125 million

$410 million

American Made

Aug 25, 2017

$134.9 million

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

July 27, 2018

$791.7 million

Top Gun: Maverick

May 27, 2022

$1.480 billion

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

July 10, 2023

$291 million

$552.4 million

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two

June 28, 2024

Read More About: Akshay Kumar Upcoming Movies

This is the complete list of Tom Cruise movies in order with Box office Collection.

Conclusion:

Tom Cruise filmography is a testament to his enduring talent and remarkable versatility as an actor. From his early days as a promising newcomer to his current status as a Hollywood legend, Cruise has consistently delivered box office successes and critically acclaimed performances. His dedication to his craft and his willingness to take on diverse roles have solidified his place in cinematic history. As fans eagerly await his future projects, one thing

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Priya Patel is a person who loves movies a lot. She writes her thoughts about different movies on The Cinema Info website. Many people have fun reading what she writes.

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How to Watch Mission Impossible Movies in Chronological Order

Catch up with ethan hunt and imf ahead of dead reckoning part one..

In 1996, 30 years after the Mission: Impossible TV series first aired on CBS, Paramount Pictures recruited Tom Cruise to bring the franchise to the big screen. In the 17 years since, Cruise has led the franchise through six spy films and a $3.5 billion USD box-office haul to rest comfortably among the best action franchises of all time.

With the series’ seventh and eighth movies —  Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Part Two — on the horizon, we've compiled a spoiler-free* list of every Mission Impossible movie ordered by narrative chronology and release date, from oldest to newest, so you can watch or re-watch the movies in their proper order.

• How to watch in chronological order
• How to watch by release order

How Many Mission Impossible Movies Are There?

There have been six Mission: Impossible movies released since the series’ inception in 1996. A seventh film will be released this year, followed by an eighth in 2024.

Mission Impossible Movies in Chronological Order

Following the Mission Impossible chronology is as easy as watching the movies in the order they were released: the narrative chronology follows the release order from 1996’s Mission Impossible to 2018’s Fallout.

The list below outlines the definitive order in which to watch the Mission Impossible movies. We've added broad plot overviews and information on each movie’s critical and commercial reception.

*The blurbs below contain character/actor names and broad plot overviews.

1. Mission: Impossible (1996)

1996’s Mission: Impossible introduced us to Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, a highly capable agent within the elite Impossible Mission Force (IMF) espionage agency. Hunt, believed to be a mole within the IMF, flees and sets out to discover the traitor’s true identity.

Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, and Henry Czerny star alongside Cruise, as does the series’ most recurring support actor, Ving Rhames (Luther). It’s the only film in the franchise directed by Brian De Palma (Scarface).

2. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Ethan Hunt returned four years later for Mission: Impossible 2 , a sequel that tasks the agent with recovering a dangerous bioweapon and its cure from the hands of a nefarious pharmaceutical company and its lackeys.

The sequel weaves another spy-thriller plot through explosive stuntwork, chase scenes, and the drama of blackmail and stolen identity. It’s the only movie in the series directed by action-film legend John Woo.

3. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Mission: Impossible 3 introduces a love interest for Ethan in Michelle Monaghan’s Julia Meade. The plot sees Julia unwittingly mixed up in Ethan’s espionage work, which once again focuses on the recovery of a bioweapon.

Ving Rhames again reprises his role as Ethan’s trusted colleague Luther. Other cast members include Philip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Keri Russell, Simon Pegg, and Laurence Fishburne.

Mission: Impossible III was J.J. Abrams’s feature-film directorial debut. It’s the only movie in the franchise he directed.

4. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

The first of the more-modern Mission Impossible movies, Ghost Protocol was a big success for Paramount, grossing nearly $700 million USD worldwide and earning 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Another tale of deception with potentially earth-shattering consequences, Ghost Protocol tasks Ethan and co. with tracking down Russia’s stolen nuclear codes. The movie ends by setting up The Syndicate terrorist network as the next film’s big bad.

Ghost Protocol was directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles). Cruise and Pegg returned from M:I 3 and were joined by newcomers Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton.

5. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Christopher McQuarrie took over the franchise’s directorial duties with Rogue Nation and has held onto them since. A frequent collaborator of Tom Cruise’s, McQuarrie has made the two most critically acclaimed M:I movies and two of the three highest-grossing.

Rogue Nation is another globe-trotting spectacle filled with stuntwork and sabotage. This time around, Ethan Hunt faces off against The Syndicate, a shadowy terrorist organization set up at the end of Ghost Protocol.

Joining Cruise, Pegg, Renner, and Rhames in Rogue Nation are Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Simon McBurney, and Alec Baldwin.

6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

The most recent Mission Impossible is the franchise’s most critically and commercially successful film. Fallout features healthy servings of M:I’s staple ingredients — government conspiracies, double-crosses, bombastic set-pieces — but as stated in IGN’s review, the main draw is watching “Tom Cruise do his death-defying thing.”

The Syndicate, rebuilt as The Apostles, returns as the antagonist organization in Fallout. Ethan Hunt, accompanied by Henry Cavill’s August Walker, is tasked with recovering three plutonium cores to prevent the detonation of three nuclear bombs.

Cruise, Pegg, Rhames, Monaghan, Ferguson, Baldwin, and Harris all return from the series’ past, while Cavill leads a group of newcomers that includes Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, and Vanessa Kirby.

Upcoming Mission Impossible Movies

Mission: impossible – dead reckoning part one (2023).

The first of a two-part blockbuster, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will be released in theaters on July 12, 2023. It’s a sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout, maintaining the synchronicity between the series’ narrative and release chronologies. Here’s the official synopsis from Paramount:

In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two (2024)

Dead Reckoning Part Two will be a direct sequel to Dead Reckoning Part One. It’s scheduled to be released just shy of a year later on June 28, 2024.

How to Watch the Mission Impossible Movies By Release Date

• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Mission: Impossible II (2000)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)*
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two (2024)*

*Not yet released

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

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How to Watch Mission: Impossible Movies In Order

If you want to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in order and see Ethan Hunt get in his daily steps, fall from high up, take a deep breath, defy mask policy, catch a plane, and kick ass and chew bubblegum (he gets them from the IMF snack room), you can watch the movies as they released, no prequel plotting here.

• Mission: Impossible (1998)
• Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Now, if you’re new to the series, do you actually need to watch all the Mission: Impossible movies in order? If you were a big fan of the original TV series , you’d probably give a bellowing NO, since the 1996 Mission: Impossible movie re-introduced the Jim Phelps hero role and then gave him a thoroughly impressive character assassination. But that’s just director Brian de Palma taking the piss out of the blockbuster and Tom Cruise taking the reins of the IP on his own terms.

So the first M:I movie is a perfectly good place to start if you’ve never seen the TV show, likely since it’s over 50 years old at this point. It’s also more of a spy thriller — all dense plotting and subdued action, but with an explosive set piece or two that would become the series’ trademark. There isn’t really an overarching story to Mission: Impossible until the latter-half of the franchise, but this movie does introduce support characters like hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames, who’s appeared in every movie) and then-IMF director Eugene Kittridge, who returns for Dead Reckoning .

Mission: Impossible 2 is the most skippable of the series, both in story and quality. Anyone who’s seen director John Woo’s Hong Kong stuff will likely find this one more palatable, believing that a man can fly and motorcycles can duel.

Cruise hand-picked J.J. Abrams to direct a soft reboot for Mission: Impossible III , which expands more of Hunt’s IMF team (including Simon Pegg’s Benji) and introduces Michelle Monaghan as Ethan’s fiancée Julia.

For the fourth Impossible , Ghost Protocol , Cruise made another unlikely choice for director: Brad Bird, making his live-action debut. This is where the series really establishes itself in the upper echelon of action filmmaking, and set the standard for death-defying practical stunts for each release.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) 97%

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) 96%

Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) 94%

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) 93%

Mission: Impossible III (2006) 71%

Mission: Impossible (1996) 66%

Mission: Impossible II (2000) 56%

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Mission: Impossible - How to watch Tom Cruise's action franchise (and the hidden prequels) in chronological or release order

With Mission: Impossible ruling the cinemas this summer, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to revisit the franchise in full. Here’s how.

Tom Cruise is the face of the consistent, longest-running franchise with his Mission: Impossible series. As we prep for its return in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, we're going back in time to the beginning - of the movie franchise, and also the TV shows that came before, to give you a guide to how to watch the whole thing.

And yes, the Mission: IMpossible TV shows are indeed in continuity with the movies.

What is Mission: Impossible?

Fortunately, Popverse is here to help, presenting the entire Mission: Impossible watch order in both chronological and release order for those looking to dive headfirst into the franchise.

From the obscure ‘60s compilation film to the surprising connection between the films and the television series that preceded them, there is a ton of Mission: Impossible history to explore and enjoy. Here’s how the Mission: Impossible saga unfolds, the links between the various projects, and what to expect next from the iconic high-octane franchise.

Mission: Impossible in chronological order

Get ready - there's more than just the Tom Cruise movies (and there's a lot of them).

• Mission: Impossible (1966-1973)
• Mission: Impossible vs. the Mob (1967)
• Mission: Impossible (1988-1990)
• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
• Mission: Impossible III (2006)
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
• Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two (2024)

Mission: Impossible in release order

And here is the Mission: Impossible TV shows and movies, in release order.

• Mission: Impossible vs. the Mob (1969)

Where can I stream the Mission: Impossible movies and TV shows?

The streaming platform with the most Mission: Impossible content is Paramount+ , boasting all six theatrical films and all seven seasons of the ‘60s television series, which ran for 171 episodes in all. With Paramount Pictures as the principal studio behind the franchise, it has taken full advantage of this synergy to position itself as the ultimate streaming source for virtually all things Mission: Impossible.

The first four movies, 1996’s Mission: Impossible through Ghost Protocol, are currently available to stream free with ads on Pluto TV for those comfortable with awkwardly timed commercial breaks throughout a stream. The online cable alternative fuboTV currently has Rogue Nation and Fallout available on its platform. Though the service does carry a $74.99 monthly subscription fee, it also offers a seven-day free trial for new subscribers curious about the platform or just looking for an easy and relatively cost-effective way to get caught up on the two most recent movies.

All the films and ‘60s television series are available to rent or purchase on digital platforms, including Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and VUDU. Additionally, physical home video releases for the movies and television shows are available through various retailers for those not looking to be chronically online with their enjoyment of the franchise. The physical home media route is the only way to legally view the ‘80s Mission: Impossible television series, as it is currently not available to stream on any platforms and similarly unavailable for purchase or rent digitally through online retailers. The ‘80s series comes bundled with its two seasons together on DVD, the most advanced physical home video format available, containing all 38 episodes.

The only bit of Mission: Impossible media currently unavailable to legally stream or purchase in North America is the 1969 compilation film Mission: Impossible vs. the Mob. The movie edited a two-part story, “The Council,” from the show’s second season into a feature-length film for theatrical release in foreign markets. Both individual episodes are still available to stream or purchase along with the rest of the season on its usual platforms.

Wait, how are the Mission: Impossible TV shows connected to the movies?

Unlike many movie adaptations of popular TV shows, Mission: Impossible shares a clear continuity between the two, with the films functioning as something of a sequel to both television series preceding them. Appropriate for its era, the ‘60s Mission: Impossible series is framed against the backdrop of the Cold War and other contemporary geopolitical crises, both domestic and abroad as IMF is led by its director Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves. Phelps is preceded in the show’s first season by Director Dan Briggs, who is absent, moving forward, without explanation as the series continues.

Graves reprises his role as Phelps in ‘80s revival series , with Phelps coming out of retirement after his IMF Director replacement Tom Copperfield is killed in the line of duty in the series premiere. Running for two seasons, the ‘80s Mission: Impossible series features the usual high stakes, including the first time the American government is forced to disavow an IMF operative on-screen when series regular Casey Randall is killed on a mission in the first season.

The 1996 Mission: Impossible movie recasts the role of Jim Phelps with Jon Voight, the sole character from either television series appearing in the films. Disenfranchised by the end of the Cold War and resulting changes to American intelligence operations, Phelps fakes his death and orchestrates the massacre of his main IMF team on a routine mission in Prague. Phelps and his wife Claire attempt to sell the identities of undercover CIA agents to a European arms dealer only to be stopped and killed by the IMF team’s sole surviving member Ethan Hunt. Subsequent films focus solely on the cinematic adventures of Ethan, omitting any direct references to the television series.

The decision to have Jim Phelps betray his country and the IMF is one that was received with some degree of controversy upon the 1996 movie’s release. Greg Morris, who played IMF mainstay Barney Collier on both television series, reportedly walked out of a screening of the film, disgusted by its handling of the source material. For his part, Graves claims he wasn't offered the opportunity to reprise his role as Phelps for the movie and was ultimaticaly displeased with its villainous depiction of Phelps rather than simply creating a new character to serve as the movie’s traitorous antagonist instead.

What are the next Mission: Impossible projects?

As its title suggests, Dead Reckoning is the first installment of a two-part story, with Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part Two scheduled to be released in theaters worldwide on June 28, 2024. Part Two is expected to retain much of the main cast from its predecessor and is reportedly designed to serve as a send-off for Ethan Hunt without elaborating on the specifics at that time. However, while promoting Dead Reckoning Part One at its world premiere in Rome, filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie claimed that Dead Reckoning Part Two is not intended to definitively conclude the overall franchise and is already developing ideas for its potential future.

Mission: Impossible leans into the most ambitious practical effects and stunt work in big budget Hollywood filmmaking, making star Tom Cruise the most ubiquitous action hero in the world. Whether on television or on film, Mission: Impossible provides premier action adventure and has so for generations, earning it legions of loyal fans. With Dead Reckoning Part Two and more possible projects on the way, Geller’s most enduring creation has plenty of gas left in the tank as it rockets to new cinematic heights with every action-packed installment.

The M:I series shows no signs of stopping, as Tom Cruise says he'll keep making Mission: Impossible movies until he's 80 .

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Here's the correct, chronological order of the Mission: Impossible movie franchise. Before the Tom Cruise movies, Mission: Impossible is an iconic spy show that began in the 1960s and revolved around the covert missions of the IMF. The series starred Peter Graves as Jim Phelps, with supporting players including the likes of Leonard Nimoy and Martin Landau. The show was later given a short-lived revival in the 1980s before Tom Cruise signed on to lead a movie adaptation in the 1990s. Prior to Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise tended to jump around genres, starring in dramas, comedies, and everything in between. As the franchise evolved he became more and more associated with action blockbusters and for his death-defying stunts.

The Mission: Impossible movies has arguably overtaken the original TV show in terms of iconic status, and is seen as one of the best ongoing franchises in Hollywood today. Parts seven and eight of the franchise are on the way, and while there are some rumors it could mark Tom Cruise's end in the Mission: Impossible franchise , excitement for Ethan Hunt's next adventure is as strong as ever. Even if the franchise is looking to wrap up sooner rather than later, each installment has delivered thrills to fans that can be revisited for years to come. Here's the correct viewing order for the franchise.

Related: Mission: Impossible Movies Ranked

Every Mission: Impossible Movie In Chronological Order

• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Mission: Impossible II (2000)
• Mission: Impossible III (2005)
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
• Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 (2024)

Mission: Impossible has changed considerably over its entries, including in the titling. While this is partly responsible for the franchise's longevity, it also means that knowing which order to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in — especially with the more recent entries — can be tricky. Numerous stylistic swaps and changes in narrative direction between installments add an extra layer to the challenge too. Brian De Palma brought his stylish stamp to the original movie, while action auteur John Woo came on for Mission: Impossible II . J.J. Abrams made his directorial debut with Mission: Impossible III after David Fincher and Joe Carnahan both dropped out.

The first three entries are easy to track in terms of chronology thanks to their handy Roman numerals, but Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol changed things up. Acclaimed animation director Brad Bird made his live-action debut with the fourth entry, but while the original plan was to have Hunt step aside for Jeremy Renner's new agent, it quickly became clear Cruise was still very much the lead, especially after filming the series' most famous setpiece where Hunt scales Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

Christopher McQuarrie came on to direct the fifth movie Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation in 2015, which introduced Rebecca Ferguson's fan favorite Ilsa Faust to the Mission: Impossible series . In a break from franchise tradition, McQuarrie returned for Mission: Impossible - Fallout , which became the highest-grossing and is considered one of the franchise's best. McQuarrie will return once again for the upcoming seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible movies, which will be the series' first two-part story with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 set for release on July 14, 2023, and June 28, 2024, respectively.

How Many Mission: Impossible Movies There Are (And How Many Are Planned)?

So far, 6 Mission: Impossible movies have been released, with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Part 2 making up the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible movies when they are released. While Dead Reckoning Part 2 is expected to be Tom Cruise's final Mission: Impossible movie, director Christopher McQuarrie suggested reports may not be completely accurate:

"Let me tell you, I’ve been working with Tom Cruise for 15 years and I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve been standing next to the man, witnessed an event and then read about it in the trades the next day and none of what they describe is actually true.”

Intriguingly, McQuarrie and Cruise also have plans to work together after Dead Reckoning Part 2 releases in 2024:

“It’s kind of under wraps,” McQuarrie said. “It has neither a fuse nor a fuselage. Oh that’s not true… It does have some fuselages. It’s something we’ve talked about for a really long time. It’s way outside of what you’re used to seeing Tom do. It’s the kind of stuff I really love. It’s a little bit more in my wheelhouse. And yet it takes everything we’ve learned on this journey, which is making movies more and more about emotion and real emotional experiences.”

Is Mission: Impossible A Sequel To The Original TV Show & Do You Need To Watch It First?

Rumors abound that 1996's Mission: Impossible was intended to be a sequel to the original Mission: Impossible TV series (and the 1990 revival), and that much is backed up by original series co-star Martin Landau, who played Rollin Hand and who told MTV News that he and Peter Graves (who played Jim Phelps) turned down offers to appear:

"When they were working on an early incarnation of the first one - not the script they ultimately did - they wanted the entire team to be destroyed, done away with one at a time, and I was against that," he said. "It was basically an action/adventure movie and not 'Mission.' 'Mission' was a mind game. The ideal mission was getting in and getting out without anyone ever knowing we were there. So the whole texture changed. Why volunteer to essentially have our characters commit suicide? I passed on it. I said, 'It's crazy to do this.' The script wasn't that good either!"

Landau also said the decision to make Phelps the villain " really upset Peter, who protected that character with a vengeance" and Graves himself expressed his disappointment in an interview with CNN in 1996:

"I am sorry that they chose to call him Phelps. They could have solved that very easily by either having me in a scene in the very beginning, or reading a telegram from me saying, 'Hey boys, I'm retired, gone to Hawaii. Thank you, goodbye, you take over now.' "

That all suggests that the Mission: Impossible movies were initially intended to be canon to the TV series, but that changed when Jon Voight was cast as Jim Phelps and the Tom Cruise movies became an outright reboot. That means that while watching the original Mission: Impossible TV series changes how you view Cruise's Mission: Impossible movies, it is not necessary to watch the original series first.

• Movie/TV Show Timelines

The Mummy Movies in Order: How to Watch Chronologically and by Release Date

Audiences across the world fell in love with the swashbuckling Rick O’Connell and brilliant librarian Evelyn in the 1999 action-adventure The Mummy.

Audiences across the world fell in love with the swashbuckling Rick O’Connell and brilliant librarian Evelyn in the 1999 action-adventure The Mummy , which marked the start of a movie franchise. Completely different from the 1930s and '40s Universal horror films (and the Hammer horror films which followed), the Stephen Sommers remake of the 1932 classic creature feature follows the unlikely pair as they battle against the undead Egyptian high priest Imhotep on his crusade to destroy humanity, combating his supernatural powers and terrifying plagues he unleashes upon the land.

The Sommers installments focus less on being straight horror films and more on adventure and romance, impressively incorporating comedy, special effects, and exciting action sequences in the thrilling Egyptian tale. The success of The Mummy went on to spawn two direct sequels: 2001’s The Mummy Returns and 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, while also inspiring the 2002 prequel/spin-off The Scorpion King (and a lengthy wave of direct-to-video Scorpion King sequels).

The entertaining and engrossing pictures helped further establish Brendan Fraser as a Hollywood leading man, and served as Rachel Weisz’s international breakthrough role, launching the pair to worldwide stardom. Dwayne Johnson made his cinematic debut in the 2001 sequel, and even nabbed his first leading role in the franchise’s prequel The Scorpion King, setting records in the process .

The Mummy trilogy were blockbuster hits that helped make monster movies hot commodities again, masterfully blending romance with horror , adventure, and humor, together that resulted in a fun and wild ride for audiences. Universal Studios attempted to reboot the beloved franchise in 2017 with the Tom Cruise-starring action movie The Mummy, which ended up being an ill-fated endeavor and box office blunder. Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy films are currently available for streaming on HBO Max.

The Mummy Movies in Chronological Order

The scorpion king, the mummy returns, the mummy: tomb of the dragon emperor.

• The Mummy (Reboot)

While it is not much different, if you'd prefer, you can watch The Mummy movies in order of release date .

Chronicling the electrifying rise to power of the legendary Egyptian Scorpion King Mathayus of Akkad, the 2002 action-adventure film The Scorpion King features Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in his first leading role. The former WWE superstar portrays the fierce desert warrior as he battles to protect his homeland and city of Gomorrah from a ruthless evil ruler. In the spellbinding picture, the assassin Mathayus enlists the help of the magical sorcerer Cassandra and a horse thief named Arpid to fight against the oppressive King Memnon, who wishes to exterminate the nomadic tribes of the desert. Though it serves as both a prequel and spin-off to the Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy trilogy, The Scorpion King was actually released after both The Mummy and The Mummy Returns in the lucrative franchise.

The character of the Scorpion King was previously introduced in 2001’s The Mummy Returns, in which the fabled warrior vows to give his soul to Anubis in order to defeat an opposing army; when he is victorious, the Scorpion King is dragged down to the Underworld, emerging thousands of years later as a monstrous, terrifying creature. In the prequel, the character is named Mathayus, is depicted as a powerful and noble hero as opposed to bloodthirsty villain. Dwayne Johnson made the Guinness Book of World Records when he nabbed top-billing in The Scorpion King, earning $5.5 million and becoming the record holder for highest-paid actor in their first leading role.

Related: Best Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Movies, Ranked

The Scorpion King garnered mixed reviews but was a commercial success, grossing over $180 million and propelling Johnson to Hollywood superstardom; his triumph as a leading man helped kick off his exceptional cinematic career. It spawned four straight-to-home videos not directly related to The Mummy trilogy, and a reboot of The Scorpion King is currently in production, with Johnson serving as a producer. The prequel helps to further establish the timeline and events leading up to the 1999 blockbuster hit The Mummy, which kicked off Sommers’ installments.

Stephen Sommers directed the 1999 fantasy action-adventure extravaganza The Mummy , which centers on American adventurer Rick O’Connell as he guides brilliant librarian and aspiring Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan and her bumbling older brother Jonathan to Hamunaptra, City of the Dead, for an archeological dig.

The sensational picture begins in Thebes in 1290 BC, where high priest Imhotep is having an affair with Anck-su-namun, the mistress of the powerful Pharaoh Seti. After their forbidden romance is discovered, Imhotep flees and his lover kills herself under the belief that he will resurrect her. His attempts to do just that are interrupted by the Pharaoh’s bodyguards, the Medjai, who bury the high priest alive and are sworn to prevent Imhotep’s return for all eternity.

The film picks up in 1926, after O’Connell is saved from impending death in a Cairo prison by the savvy Evelyn, who convinces the former French Foreign Legion captain to lead them to the mythical city since he is one of few men who have ever visited Hamunaptra and lived to tell the tale. The trio meet a band of treasure-hunting Americans led by Rick’s cowardly former acquaintance Beni Gabor, who are being watched by the Medjai and their leader Ardeth Bay. After reading from the Book of the Dead, Evelyn inadvertently awakens Imhotep, unleashing a terrifying curse upon the land that leaves bloodshed and violence in its wake. It’s up to Rick, Evelyn and the Medjai to send the high priest back to his Underworld grave.

Brendan Fraser stars stars as the swashbuckling, charming hero Rick O’Connell, appearing alongside Rachel Weisz in the film , with the duo captivating audiences with their dazzling onscreen chemistry and amusing banter. Sommers spent a year working on the screenplay, wanting to direct a romantic adventure with horror elements that included a scarier and more threatening monster than the shambling, bandaged mummy in the classic films.

Arnold Vosloo was awarded the role of Imhotep after a single audition, having told Sommer he wanted to play the part “absolutely straight. From Imhotep’s point of view, this is a skewed version of Romeo and Juliet.” The Mummy went on to garner praise for its performances, special effects, and fresh take on the old school creature feature, with its critical and commercial success leading to the 2001 follow-up, The Mummy Returns.

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After defeating the vengeful undead high priest Imhotep, the 2001 adventure horror film The Mummy Returns picks up with the now-married Rick and Evelyn O’Connell in 1933, in which the danger-prone duo now have an eight-year-old son named Alex and live in a sprawling estate outside of London. The sequel begins with a flashback to 3067 BC, depicting the Scorpion King as he leads an army to conquer the world; after being defeated and exiled to the desert of Ahm Shere, the warrior promises his soul to Anubis in return for defeating his enemies. Upon his victory, Anubis claims his soul and is sent to the Underworld. While exploring ancient ruins with their son, Rick and Evelyn discover the powerful Bracelet of Anubis, setting forth a chain of events that threaten all humankind.

When an Egyptian cult resurrects Imhotep by using the Book of the Dead, with hopes he will defeat the Scorpion King and command his army, Alex is kidnapped by the cult’s enforcer Lock-Nah and the physical reincarnation of Anck-su-namun. The Bracelet of Anubis locked around his wrist and showed him a vision of Ahm Shere, with the boy being forced to lead the cult and revenge-seeking Imhotep to its location. Rick and Evelyn set out to rescue their son with the help of her brother Jonathan and loyal friend Ardeth Bay, battling against the undead and the living on their quest to save Alex. An epic showdown between Rick (who discovers he is a descendant of the Medjai), Imhotep and the monstrous beast the Scorpion King ensues, with only one emerging triumphant.

The Mummy Returns features much of the original film’s cast including John Hannah (Jonathan), Arnold Vosloo (Imhotep), and Oded Fehr (Ardeth Bay), in addition to new cast members like Freddie Boath as the inquisitive Alex and a great Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the merciless fighter and foe of Ardeth, Lock-Nah. Many of the actors suffered for their craft during production, with Brendan Fraser having cracked a rib, torn a spinal disc, and injured his knees, and Dwayne Johnson having suffered from heat stroke and food poisoning. Rachel Weisz’s epic fight scene with Patricia Velasquez’s Anck-su-namun took five months of training, and they did their own stunts without any stunt women. The Mummy Returns was a massive hit at the box office and with moviegoers, once again leading to a third and final film, 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

The Mummy trilogy underwent quite a few changes both in front and behind the camera with its final installment, the 2008 action-adventure The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor . Steven Sommers stepped away from directing duties for the picture, instead passing the torch to Rob Cohen and serving only as a producer, while Rachel Weisz departed the franchise and the role of Evelyn was taken over by Maria Bello.

The overall setting shifts from Egypt to China, and focuses more on the O’Connell’s now-adult son Alex (Luke Ford) as he discovers the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin, the evil warlord Han the Dragon Emperor who was granted immortality but was mummified alive with his soldiers. When Rick and Evelyn arrive in China to return the ancient gemstone known as the Eye of Shangri-La, a rogue military leader named General Yang steals the stone and resurrects Han, believing he can heal China after the turmoil of World War II.

The O’Connells and Evelyn’s brother Jonathan must band together to stop Han from reaching Shangri-La and awakening his vicious army, joining forces with the guardian of the emperor’s tomb Lin, who possesses the only weapon that can kill the powerful warrior: a cursed dagger. The father and son find themselves in an epic showdown against Han, something the now retired Rick knows all too well after his misadventures in Egypt. The concept of The Emperor and his army was based on the real-life Qin emperor Qin Shi Huang, who was actually buried amongst thousands of terracotta soldiers, known as the Terracotta Army.

Related: 12 Best Brendan Fraser Movies, Ranked

The critical and fan reaction to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was lackluster and condemning, with many believing the installment failed to capture the magic and charisma of its predecessors; audiences were dismayed by the new setting and missed the appearance of Oded Fehr’s Ardeth Bay and Rachel Weisz’s Evelyn. Brendan Fraser was praised for his uncanny ability to bring charm to any scene, and martial arts star Jet Li also earned positive feedback for his performance as the villain Han.

The third film did go on to earn $400 million at the box office, yet was the trilogy’s lowest-grossing installment. While there were early talks of a potential fourth picture, Universal Pictures canceled such plans and instead decided to reboot the franchise completely with the ill-fated 2017 Tom Cruise led action-adventure film The Mummy.

The Mummy (2017 Reboot)

Intended to kick off the Dark Universe that would be based on the classic Universal Monsters made famous between the ‘30s and the ‘50s, the 2017 fantasy action-adventure film The Mummy features action legend Tom Cruise as U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton, who pillages ancient artifacts to sell, but in the process accidentally awakens the entrapped Egyptian princess Ahmanet.

Plans for a modern reboot of the franchise were first announced in 2012, with Cruise signing on in 2015 to lead the epic picture. Variety reported that the actor had excessive control over the film in nearly every aspect of production, allegedly leading to creative discord between him and director Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman called the experience “brutal” and described The Mummy as “probably the biggest failure” of his life, having said on the Bingeworthy podcast :

I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures. And that was probably the biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally. There’s about a million things I regret about it, but it also gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful. I didn’t become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well-directed – it was because it wasn’t.

It’s hard to comprehend a movie that made over $400 million at the box office could possibly be considered a failure, but due to the high production and marketing costs the film needed to make at least $450 million to break even; it ended up losing Universal Studios between $60-$100 million. Not only did The Mummy fail to recoup costs, it also was ineffective at connecting with audiences and reviewers, with many criticizing the reboot for its plot points, tone and overall performances.

As with any reboot, there are going to be countless comparisons to the original picture(s), and it seems that audiences just couldn’t get on board with Cruise running around the City of London, kicking butt against a legion of zombies and a seriously enraged mummy. What began as a high-concept opening to an extensive series of new horror remakes from Universal based on their classic monsters, with The Mummy , many considered that the Dark Universe failed before it even began .

The Mummy Movies in Order of Release Date

• The Mummy - 7 May 1999
• The Mummy Returns - 4 May 2001
• The Scorpion King - 19 April 2002
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - 24 July 2008
• The Mummy (Reboot) - 9 June 2017

Return to The Mummy Movies in Chronological Order

Tom Cruise Film List

2. Endless Love

3. The Outsiders

4. Risky Business

5. Losin' It

6. All the Right Moves

9. The Color of Money

10. Rain Man

11. Cocktail

12. Born on the Fourth of July

13. Days of Thunder

14. Far and Away

15. A Few Good Men

16. The Firm

17. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

18. Mission: Impossible

19. Jerry Maguire

20. Magnolia

21. Eyes Wide Shut

22. Mission: Impossible II

23. Vanilla Sky

24. Minority Report

25. Austin Powers in Goldmember

26. The Last Samurai

27. Collateral

28. War of the Worlds

29. Mission: Impossible III

30. Lions for Lambs

31. Valkyrie

32. Tropic Thunder

33. Knight and Day

34. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

35. Rock of Ages

36. Jack Reacher

37. Oblivion

38. Edge of Tomorrow

39. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

40. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

41. The Mummy

42. American Made

43. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

44. Top Gun: Maverick

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