Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning certainly sounds like a big send-off for Ethan Hunt.

However, studios have a track record of implying a film is the last in order to get bums on seats before rebooting or producing yet another sequel.

And considering the end of the latest instalment of the spy franchise, seems far from done.

After all, The Final Reckoning concluded with Hunt being entrusted with the drive housing the Entity, the powerful AI that almost caused global nuclear annihilation.

This open-ended conclusion to the eighth film is no coincidence, considering that the director of the last four movies has confirmed that more are in the works.

Back in 2023, around the release of Dead Reckoning, director Christopher McQuarrie basically confirmed Mission: Impossible 9 is inevitable. He told Fandango at the time that The Final Reckoning (then titled Dead Reckoning Part 2) was "not the end" of the series and they already had "ideas for what comes next". Cruise may be about to turn 63 but he's previously teased he'd like Top Gun Maverick co-star Glen Powell (who confessed to the A-lister he wanted his career) to take over the franchise.

Cruise has also confirmed he wants to star in movies until he's 100. So we highly doubt we're seeing the end of the action series anytime soon.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is out now in cinemas.