Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1 Changes Name

Don’t call it Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1. As of yesterday, Paramount has altered the title of Tom Cruise’s latest action fest.

Announced in a tweet on January 18, the film in question is now known simply as Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, with Paramount dropping the ‘Part 1’.

It comes as the film makes its highly anticipated released onto Paramount+ on January 25th. But why the name change?

Some people think it’s because the next film in the series has changed significantly, and no longer ties neatly into Dead Reckoning.

Other people say it’s more to do with marketing. Less people are interested in seeing only the first half of a double feature, knowing it won’t resolve for another few years.

One film that changed its name to great effect was Avengers: Infinity War, which was originally known as Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1. In that case, however, the name change came before the film was released. That's something they might have to do with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty after its director dropped out.

‘Part 1’ has always sat strangely in the Dead Reckoning title. All Mission Impossible films to date have taken place in the same universe and followed on from each other, with returning characters and recurring themes, so you’d already assume the next one would do the same.

Whatever’s behind Paramount’s reasoning, you can watch the film formerly called Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1 on Paramount+ January 25.