Mission Impossible 8 Set Photos & Video Show Tom Cruise Bloodied & Running

Mission: Impossible 8 star Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in new photos and videos from the movie's set. The end of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning sets up an even bigger mission for Hunt, with the super spy and his team continuing their quest to take down the rogue AI known as the Entity. Franchise veteran Christopher McQuarrie is directing the upcoming sequel, which is expected to hit theaters next spring.

As the wait for the Mission: Impossible 8 release date continues, Navy shares new photos and videos from the set, showing Cruise sprinting and with blood on his clothes. The footage, which is available at the link above, shows the production underway in London by Big Ben, with the city having now appeared in several installments in the franchise. The context of the scene being filmed is not yet clear, but one photo shows a heavy military presence by the iconic London landmark.

What To Expect From Mission: Impossible 8

Where The Dead Reckoning Sequel Has Filmed So Far

While the upcoming installment in the action franchise was originally going to be called Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2, the underperformance of Part 1 at the box office reportedly led to a bit of a re-think for the sequel. So far, it's not clear whether the changes to the sequel go beyond its title (no replacement title has yet been revealed), but filming on the project has now been ongoing, on and off, for at least two years. Production was also hampered last year with the onset of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

So far, filming reports have revealed that, like previous installments, Mission: Impossible 8's story will be a globe-trotting one. The movie has so far filmed in various spots across the U.K., South Africa, the Arctic, and on an aircraft carrier in the Aegean Sea. The filming in South Africa involved Cruise clutching onto a small biplane as it flies upside down, while the filming in the Arctic suggests the movie will feature a trip to the Sevastopol submarine, which was sunk under the ice caps of the Bering Sea.

Many Mission: Impossible 7 cast members are expected to return for the new movie, including Simon Pegg as Benji, Ving Rhames as Luther, and Haley Atwell as Grace. Rebecca Ferguson, however, is not expected to return as Isla after the character's death in the most recent sequel, but newcomers include Nick Offerman and Hannah Waddingham. While many questions remain about Mission: Impossible 8, the latest photos and videos confirm it will feature the return of Cruise's iconic run.

Source: @TomCruiseNavy