Tom Cruise will always be famous for his blockbuster roles as Pete Mitchell in Top Gun and Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible, but he’s also headlined plenty of original movies, and he’s not done yet. It’s been a while since Cruise played a character for the first time — he last did so when he played Barry Seal in American Made, the 2017 crime thriller directed by Doug Liman. Since then, he’s played Ethan Hunt three times in three Mission: Impossible movies, and he famously played Pete Mitchell in the $1 billion blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise’s next movie will see him in an unfamiliar role. He’ll star in the currently untitled action film from Alejandro G. Iñárritu, which also stars John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, and more. Very little is known about the film at this time, but Cruise took to his personal X account yesterday to share the first image from production, which wrapped earlier this year. The movie will reportedly follow the most powerful man in the world, who causes a disaster and then embarks on a mission to rectify the problem he created, proving himself to be the savior of humanity. It’s currently slated for release on October 2, 2026. Cruise’s full caption for the post can be found below:
“Today, I share the first photo taken last year during a rehearsal on the set of my new film with Alejandro G. Iñãrritu. Alejandro, 25 years ago I watched your first film, the classic Amores Perros. This weekend, 25 years later, I was deeply moved to have been presented the Honorary Oscar by you, my dear friend. I cannot wait to share our new film with you all next year!”
Now that Cruise has seemingly left Ethan Hunt behind, he’s returning to more original roles than we’ve seen from him in a while. He’s also due to star alongside Ana de Armas in Deeper, an underwater action thriller where he’ll reunite with American Made director Doug Liman. The two also worked together on the 2014 sci-fi masterpiece, Edge of Tomorrow. Cruise and Liman even have plans to film a movie in space, but it’s unclear at this time if it will ever happen.
What Is Tom Cruise’s Best Sci-Fi Movie?
Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. InarrituImage via Tom Cruise
Many would argue that Edge of Tomorrow is Tom Cruise’s best sci-fi movie, and it’s hard to refute. He has starred in numerous other massive sci-fi hits, including Minority Report, the 2002 film from Steven Spielberg set in a dystopian future where the police can prevent crime before it occurs. It’s also hard to count out Oblivion as one of Tom Cruise’s best sci-fi endeavors. Minority Report is currently streaming on Paramount+ for all subscribers, and Oblivion can be watched on Netflix for now.
Check out the first image of Tom Cruise’s new movie above and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the film.
Release Date
May 23, 2025
Runtime
170 minutes
Director
Christopher McQuarrie
