New Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Update Confirms The Biggest Mistake With Tom Cruise’s Sequel

Paramount has made a notable update to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning that confirms the biggest mistake with the sequel. Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie reunited for the seventh installment of the Mission: Impossible movie franchise years ago. When the sequel was first announced in 2019, Paramount confirmed that they were making two sequels, Mission: Impossible 7 & 8, with the intention of filming them back-to-back for 2021 and 2022 releases. After several delays and changes, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One hit theaters on July 12, 2023.

Pegged to be one of the biggest movies of 2023, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning‘s release did not go as expected. The movie was crushed at the box office by the hype for Barbie and Oppenheimer, which both came out less than two weeks after Tom Cruise’s sequel debuted. However, that was not the only thing that went wrong with Mission: Impossible 7‘s box office and reception. Paramount has been attempting to course-correct one costly decision over the last few months. The studio has confirmed a major mistake was made with the sequel at long last with a recent update.

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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Has Officially Dropped The Part One Subtitle

Paramount has officially made the decision to change Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning‘s title to coincide with the movie’s streaming release. The studio originally announced that the film was called Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, with the sequel following suit with a Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two title. Paramount stuck with the title through the movie’s theatrical release, but its underperformance at the box office forced a recalculation. The end result is Part One being dropped from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning‘s title in all official marketing materials from this point on.

The move to simplify and change Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning‘s title is hardly a surprise at this point. Paramount signaled that this could be a possibility when it was announced that Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two had been renamed Mission: Impossible 8. An official new title will be revealed at a later point, but the move made it clear everyone involved wanted to abandon the notion that this was a two-part story, even if there will still be plenty of overlap as Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning‘s ending directly sets up Mission: Impossible 8.

Why Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’s Title Was A Mistake

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was always a risky title for the franchise, and it is now an undeniable mistake. By using the Part One title, the new Mission: Impossible movie subtly told audiences that the movie was not a complete story. This could mean that some decided not to rush to theaters to see the movie with the understanding that they could wait until closer to Part Two to watch. That is why many other movies, such as Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Dune, all did not use “Part One” labels after further consideration.

There are certainly no arguments to be made in favor of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning‘s original title at this point. The effects of the Part One title are clearly seen in how the movie performed at the box office and Paramount’s willingness to admit the mistake several months later. Dropping the title signals how much the studio believes having that two-part story implication in the title hurt Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning in the short term and not wanting any negative connotations to remain going forward.