One of the Greatest Action Blockbusters of the 21st Century Is Officially Streaming

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema. 

The recently released political satire Digger was meant to be a celebration of star Tom Cruise‘s career. It marked his long-awaited return to non-IP films and was marketed as the ultimate tribute to his stardom. However, Digger was dead on arrival at the box office, having attracted divisive reviews and tanked with only around $50 million worldwide against a reported budget of $180 million.

Only four years ago, Cruise delivered the biggest hit of his career, Top Gun: Maverick, and was hailed as the savior of movie theaters. That said, there were concerning signs in the two years leading up to Digger, with the seventh and eighth installments of the Mission: Impossible series underperforming commercially despite the success of the three previous installments. The best entry in the long-running action series was recently added to a free streaming platform, while fans wait for a firm update on where the series is headed next.

The most recent installment, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, was marketed as the final chapter of the series. It grossed less than $600 million worldwide against a reported budget of around $400 million. It served as a direct sequel to Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, which made around $570 million globally against a reported budget of nearly $300 million.

Both movies received mostly positive reviews, although some criticism was directed at the identity of the villain. Before the final two movies, the franchise was on a hot streak that began with the fourth installment, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, directed by Brad Bird. Every installment that followed was helmed by Christopher McQuarrie.

• He reads ground the way other people read a room.
• He will stand between you and the worst of it without discussing it.
• He says almost nothing, and never the wrong thing.

• The 1982 original came from David Morrell’s 1972 novel, which ends very differently.
• Stallone cut most of his own dialogue in the edit to make the character nearly silent.
• Five films across thirty-seven years, from 1982 to the fifth in 2019.

• He is better in the room than he is on paper, and he is excellent on paper.
• He will not explain the plan, and the plan will work.
• He treats charm as a tool, and it is a remarkably effective one.

• Eon has made twenty-five Bond films since Dr. No in 1962, across six actors.
• Denis Villeneuve is directing the next one for Amazon MGM, which took creative control in
  2025.
• The search for the new 007 was still running through 2026, with screen tests under way.

• He has read the thing nobody else thought to read.
• He will risk the whole plan for the artifact, and be right about half the time.
• He improvises better than most people prepare.

• The Cairo swordsman scene was improvised on the day because Harrison Ford had dysentery.
• Raiders was filmed in about 73 days, which was fast even in 1981.
• Dial of Destiny in 2023 was Ford’s fifth and last outing, at the age of eighty.

• He turns whatever is in the room to his advantage.
• He is funniest when things are at their worst.
• He has never once agreed that it is over.

• Die Hard came from Roderick Thorp’s novel Nothing Lasts Forever, a sequel to a book
  filmed in 1968.
• Nakatomi Plaza is Fox Plaza, which was the studio’s own headquarters at the time.
• Bruce Willis was a television comedy actor then, and a long way down the casting list.

• He takes the risk himself rather than assigning it.
• He is three moves ahead and will not say which three.
• He treats your survival as the actual objective.

• Cruise hung off the side of an Airbus A400M at a thousand feet for the opening of Rogue
  Nation.
• The HALO jump in Fallout took 106 takes, filmed at dusk for the light.
• The Final Reckoning in 2025 was the eighth film, and was sold as the last.

Here’s Where You Can Watch the Action Masterpiece for Free

Image via Paramount Pictures

Image via Paramount Pictures

Image via Paramout Pictures

Image via Paramount Pictures

Image via Paramount Pictures

Image via Paramount Pictures

Image via Paramount Pictures

Image via Paramout Pictures

Image via Paramount Pictures

Image via Paramount Pictures

The franchise’s finest hour remains Mission: Impossible — Fallout, the sixth installment. It now holds a “Certified Fresh” 98% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Fast, sleek, and fun, Mission: Impossible — Fallout lives up to the ‘impossible’ part of its name by setting yet another high mark for insane set pieces in a franchise full of them.”

Mission: Impossible — Fallout likely gained viewers for adding Henry Cavill, fresh off Man of Steel; it’s also notorious for being the movie that Cavill couldn’t shave his mustache for in order to play Superman in Justice League, leading to uncanny valley CGI. Also starring Rebecca Ferguson (Dune: Part Three), Vanessa Kirby (The Fantastic Four: First Steps), Ving Rhames (Con Air), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), and Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Mission: Impossible — Fallout grossed nearly $800 million worldwide against a reported budget of $250 million.

You can watch the movie, along with every other installment of the series, on Pluto TV this month. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.