Movies

Mission: Impossible franchise cruises to first Oscar nominations

"Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning" has received two 2024 Oscar noms for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.

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Published on January 23, 2024 02:26PM EST

Well, that's one more impossible, or at least rather difficult, task achieved by Tom Cruise.

After seven films, and almost 30 years, the Mission: Impossible series has finally been recognized by the Academy. Tuesday's announcement of the 2024 Oscar nominations included nods in the categories of Best Sound and Best Visual Effects for the action franchise's most recent entry Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning. Director Christoper McQuarrie's film is competing against The Creator, Maestro, Oppenheimer, and The Zone of Interest for the Sound Oscar and faces competition from The Creator, Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Napoleon in the Visual Effects contest.

While the Academy may have previously snubbed Mission: Impossible, its principals have been acknowledged for their work away from the series. As an actor, Cruise has been nominated three times — for Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia — and, as a producer, scored a Best Picture nod for Top Gun: Maverick. Back in 1996, McQuarrie won Best Original Screenplay for The Usual Suspects and was nominated for co-writing Top Gun: Maverick as well as sharing the Best Film nod with Cruise, David Ellison, and Jerry Bruckheimer.

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning was released last July under the title Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and was set to be followed by Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two. The film earned $172 million in the U.S., around $50 million less than the previous entry, 2018's Mission: Impossible — Fallout. Paramount subsequently decided to give Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two a new, yet-to-be-announced name. Earlier this month, the studio excised the "Part One" from the now Oscar-nominated seventh film in the franchise. The eighth Mission: Impossible film is set for release on May 23, 2025.

The 96th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 10, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC. See the full list of 2024 Oscar nominations.

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