Impossible’ Is ‘Going to Be Very Successful,’ Holt McCallany Predicts (Exclusive)

Holt McCallany has high hopes for Tom Cruise‘s final Mission: Impossible film.

PEOPLE caught up with McCallany, 61, at the New York City premiere of his upcoming movie The Amateur, where he shared his thoughts on how things will go this summer for the franchise’s final film. 

“Well, I haven’t seen Mission: Impossible [The Final Reckoning] yet, but, I’ve seen all of the preceding films and it’s a great franchise,” the Mindhunter star says.

“Christopher McQuarrie is a wonderful guy, a great writer, a great director, and really a great human being, you know, so it was a privilege to work for Chris McQ, we call him ‘McQ,’ ” he adds of the nickname given to the director. 

McCallany tells PEOPLE, “Tom is the biggest movie star in the world, and there’s a reason for that.”

“So I was really happy to be a part of that project, and I think it’s going to be very successful, especially to be a part of what’s going to be the last installment of that franchise,” he says. 

In the upcoming summer blockbuster, McCallany will play Secretary of Defense Bernstein, Deadline reported in July 2022.

The film will also see Cruise, 62, reprise his role as field agent Ethan Hunt.

Final Reckoning, which is the eighth Mission: Impossible movie, will pick up where the 2023 film Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning left off. Hunt and his team are once again in the midst of a potentially catastrophic fight against a rogue artificial intelligence machine known as “The Entity.”

During a February joint interview with Empire magazine, Cruise and McQuarrie were asked if Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning would truly be the end to the franchise that began in 1996. 

“It is, I hope, the satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc,” the movie star said. “I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate.”

Cruise continued, “It’s a hard thing for me to discuss at the moment because it really is something that you have to experience.” 

According to the Top Gun: Maverick actor, his upcoming movie can be best described as “an epic, emotional journey of the entire franchise,” even adding, “It’s Homeric,” he said, referring to the author of Ancient Greek legends such as The Odyssey and The Iliad.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning also stars Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn), Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell (Grace), Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff (Paris) and Henry Czerny, all of whom reprise their roles from past films. 

Nick Offerman, Bob Odenkirk, Janet McTeer, Hannah Waddingham and Katy O’Brian join the cast as new characters.

Mission: Impossible —The Final Reckoning will be released in theaters on May 23, 2025.