It’s Tom Hanks vs. Tom Cruise as beloved filmForrest Gumphas beaten severalMission: Impossiblemovies on Pluto, perFlix Patrol. As film lovers around the world celebrate New Year’s Day, what could be better than streaming some classic movies?
Forrest Gumpis number one on Pluto’s streaming charts, followed by the first fourMission: Impossiblefilms. It’s Hanks vs. Cruise, with one Tom taking the streaming crown. Also topping the chart on the first day of the year aretwo John Travolta classics,GreaseandPulp Fiction.
Hanks' film was an instant and beloved classicwhen it debuted during a fairly busy summer of 1994. Among the box office hits wereForrest Gump, The Lion King, True Lies, and The Maverick. Directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script by Eric Roth (Dune: Part One), who adapted the novel by Winston Groom, the movie follows Forrest Gump, a man with a low IQ, as he travels around America and the world between the 1950s and 1970s, and is somehow a part of major historical events.
Forrest Gumpwent onto to be a smash hit, behind onlyThe Lion King, and won multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture andHanks' second Best Actor Oscar in a row(he won forPhiladelphiaa year prior). The film is still popular among different generations and features standout performances by Hanks, Robin Wright, and Gary Sinise as Lieutenant Dan.
Meanwhile, thefirst fourMission: Impossiblefilms were helmed by a who’s who of directors, including the legendary Brian De Palma (The Untouchables) for the first, John Woo (Hard Boiled) for part two, JJ Abrams (Star TrekandStar Wars: The Force Awakens) for part three, and Brad Bird (The Incredibles) forGhost Protocol. All four films were critical and box office hits.
‘Mission: Impossible’ Franchise Could Continue With a Younger Ethan Hunt
While there will never be a sequel toForrest Gump,despiteHanks, Zemeckis, and Roth mapping out the plot, it does look likeMission: Impossiblewill continue, despiteThe Final Reckoningfeeling like the last film in the nearly 30-year franchise. A new report says the next two installments will featurea younger actor playing Ethan Hunt in his early days as a new spy. Cruise will reportedly still appear in both sequels, but by going back to the true beginnings of Hunt’s career, it could add a fresh spin on the franchise.
Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning Trailer Brings Back Tom Cruise One Last Time(?)
Our lives are the sum of our choices, and Ethan Hunt is doing the math.
However, the possibility ofMission: Impossiblecontinuing with more films may be dependent on the box-office return ofThe Final Reckoning. The 2023 installment,Dead Reckoning - Part One, did decent at the worldwide box office with $570 million, but nowhere near the nearly $800 million haul ofFallout(2018). ConsideringDead Reckoningcost $300 million to make, it wasn’t really much of a box-office smash (and that doesn’t include marketing costs). Paramount and Cruise will undoubtedly be watching the box office receipts whenMission: Impossible - The Final Reckoningopens on June 22, 2025.
WatchForrest Gumpand the first fourMission: Impossiblefilms for free on Pluto.
Forrest Gump
Mission: Impossible
