Hollywood star Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, the eighth and last instalment in the hit spy thriller film franchise, received a five-minute standing ovation at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.
Cruise, 62, was accompanied by filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie and the remaining cast of the film at the festival for the screening of his upcoming actioner.
Several videos on social media surfaced that show Cruise walking down the aisle of the theatre hall amidst thunderous applause from the audience.
Another video shows the Knight and Day star thanking the audience for their enthusiasm and love. He also thanked McQuarrie, who directed four films of the Mission Impossible franchise.
“I'm very grateful to be a part of this franchise,” he said, recollecting his 30-year journey as the face of Mission: Impossible.
“Every step of the way, what you've done, how you've expanded it, how you just went beyond our expectations… To be here in Cannes and have these moments—as a kid, I couldn't have dreamed of something like this,” he said.
“I'm very grateful to have been able to entertain you with this franchise for 30 years,” Cruise concluded.
Backed by Paramount Pictures and Skydance, the action drama also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, and Frederick Schmidt in pivotal roles.
The Mission: Impossible film series follows the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), a secret espionage agency tasked with preventing global catastrophes through covert operations.
The franchise began with the 1996 original film, followed by Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).
The 78th Cannes Film Festival began on Tuesday and will run until May 24.
