The Mission: Impossible cast are no stranger to stunts, but the one they pulled on the Cannes red carpet could land them in hot water with festival organisers.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning received its world premiere on Wednesday (14 May) at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, where Cruise delivered his swansong as super spy Ethan Hunt.
Prior to the screening, Cruise and his co-stars, including Simon Pegg, Hannah Waddingham, Trammell Tilman, and Angela Bassett, walked the red carpet.
They paused several times to capture the joyful moment with selfies taken by Christopher McQuarrie, who directed five of the eight Mission Impossible films, including Rogue Nation (2015), Fallout (2018), Dead Reckoning (2023), and The Final Reckoning (2025).
Although a seemingly innocuous act, the selfies broke the rules of the Cannes Film Festival, which state that taking selfies are prohibited on the red carpet.
The rule was introduced in 2018, with the festival’s artistic director Thierry Frémaux telling Le Film Français magazine at the time that taking selfies “tarnished” the red carpet and the event as a whole.
“On the red carpet, the trivial aspect and the slowing down provoked by the disorder which these selfies create tarnishes the quality of [the red carpet experience] and of the festival as a whole,” he said.
One of the photos taken earlier in the festival, which was shared on the official Mission: Impossible X account, featured Cruise, McQuarrie, Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Zhen Lei, and Greg Tarzan Davis.
APTOPIX France Cannes 2025 Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Red Carpet (2025 Invision)The caption – which reads “Mission: Selfie. Accomplished.” – might suggest that the cast knew they were flouting the rules, with some fans applauding them on their boldness.
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Cannes festival rules have been under the spotlight recently after organisers announced that the dress code had been updated to ban nudity and dresses with long trains.
The announcement came only one day before the 12-day festival was set to commence, with stars including Halle Berry scrambling to change their outfits in time for the gala.
It’s likely, though, that this Mission: Impossible selfie transgression will be forgiven by festival organisers, given the film has proven to be such a success.
Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning, which is expected to be the last instalment of the popular action series, was met with a 7.5-minute-long standing ovation by the audience on Wednesday night.
“I’m very grateful, very grateful for 30 years to be able to entertain with this franchise,” Cruise, who has led all eight of the Mission: Impossible entries, told the crowd in a clip posted to X.
The Oscar-nominated actor, 62, went on to express his gratitude for McQuarrie, stating: “Every step of the way, what you’ve done and how you’ve expanded it, how it just went beyond our expectations.
“Your absolute care, your talent; you’re absolutely brilliant, and you’re an amazing human being. It’s been a real privilege and pleasure. Look forward to making a bunch of other types of movies with you.”
(L-R) Angela Bassett, Tom Cruise, Pom Klementieff walk the red carpet at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival (Getty Images)Turning to the audience, Cruise continued: “We just want to thank you all. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you so much for allowing us to entertain you!”
The Final Reckoning arrives two years after the release of the penultimate film in the franchise, Dead Reckoning Part One.
Picking up where the seventh movie left off, Hunt and his Impossible Missions Force team race against time to find the Entity, a rogue artificial intelligence system with the power to destroy mankind.
Along with Cruise’s Hunt, the film welcomes the return of Atwell as pickpocket-turned-IMF ally Grace, and Pom Klementieff as once-evil-now-good assassin Paris. Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Esai Morales all reprise their roles, alongside Angela Bassett, who last featured in 2018’s Mission: Impossible — Fallout.
In a four-star review of the film for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey said that she “absolutely adored it”, writing: “This (potentially final) entry in the long-running franchise is inherently absurd, but who cares?”
APTOPIX France Cannes 2025 Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Red Carpet (2025 Invision)“The Final Reckoning, final or not, presents us with a fascinating contradiction: Ethan Hunt is both a pure singular and a state of mind. He’s cinema as the madman dreamer’s paradise,” she added.
The film marks the conclusion of an action franchise that began in 1996, with Cruise not only starring, but making his debut as a producer, too. The actor has become known for his stunts in the films, which have helped establish him as one of the leading action stars in Hollywood.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is out in UK theatres on 21 May, with the US theatrical release following days later on 23 May.
