San Antonio, Texas. (June 21, 2025): In this photo by Senior Airman Gabriel Jones, Actor Tom Cruise greets Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Gilda Alexander, command chief of Joint Base San Antonio and U.S. Army Colonel Will B. Freds, deputy commander of the 502nd Air Base Wing during a leadership reception. Cruise visited with JB San Antonio leadership and service members to thank them for their sacrifices in support of the mission.
The reception comes at the end of filming of the hit movie "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning", the eighth installment of the "Mission Impossible" franchise. Hollywood has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. military for assistance with filming war movies dating back to World War II. Military participation is essential to ensure that no sensitive information is inadvertently disclosed and for historical accuracy. For example, Hollywood costume departments consult with active-duty military to make sure patches and insignia are correct on uniforms and that standard military operations are accurately portrayed.
For The Final Reckoning, the Air Force contributed two U.S. Special Operations Command CV-22 Osprey helicopters from RAF Mildenhall, England with a dozen Special Operations Command Osprey crew members worked with the actors in an advisory role. The Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush played the most prominent role of all military assets in the film, including hosting the movie's cast and crew for a few days in late winter 2023.
Crew members got into the act as extras, particularly in the flight deck and navigation bridge scenes. Not to be outdone by the surface fleet, the Virigina-class submarine USS Hyman G. Rickover provided authenticity to scenes of submarines deploying special forces for high-risk missions. For these sequences, the Marines brought in Special Forces reconnaissance Marines to represent the Corps as authentically as possible.
The Final Reckoning grossed $77 million at the box office the first weekend, a record for the 29-year-old franchise. Tom Cruise is a phenomenally successful actor and producer known for his iconic roles in action films like "Top Gun", “A Few Good Men,” as well as for his dramatic performance in the film "Jerry Maguire". He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards.
Ahead of the movie's opening in theaters, Cruise met with Gold Star families, wounded warriors, and service members before a private viewing of the film in San Antonio.