Tom Cruise May Return to Spy Movies with Doppelgänger — Here's Everything We Know About His Post-Mission: Impossible Future

Is Tom Cruise Done With Ethan Hunt? Not Quite — His Next Spy Movie Sounds Wild

It has been exactly 30 years since Mission: Impossible dropped into theaters on May 22, 1996, and fundamentally changed Tom Cruise's career forever. The original film, directed by Brian De Palma and made on an $80 million budget, turned a 1960s TV spy series into one of the biggest film franchises in Hollywood history. But after Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (2025) served as what many believe is Ethan Hunt's final chapter, fans have been wondering: what comes next for Cruise in the spy genre?

The answer might surprise you. According to recent reports from insider Jeff Sneider on TheInSneider, Tom Cruise is reportedly in talks to star in an original spy thriller called Doppelgänger — and the concept sounds absolutely insane in the best way possible.

What Is Doppelgänger About?

Here is the premise that got everyone excited: Cruise would play a CIA agent named Veer, whose entire life gets turned upside down when he discovers that Russia has recruited a man who looks exactly like him — and is using this doppelgänger as a mole. But it gets even crazier. There may or may not be more than one Veer doppelgänger running around. Think Face/Off meets The Bourne Identity, with Cruise doing his own stunts on top of it.

The script is being written by Aneesh Chaganty and Dan Frey — the duo behind thrillers like Searching and Missing. Chaganty has reportedly flown to Florida multiple times to meet with Cruise in person and is actively rewriting Doppelgänger to tailor the script specifically to Cruise's specifications. That is the kind of commitment you rarely see in Hollywood.

Who Is Behind the Project?

The film rights were acquired by Skydance back in June 2025, and the producing team is stacked: Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed), Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian (Searching), Chaganty himself, and Natalie Qasabian. According to Deadline, the movie features "two very meaty lead roles for an actor and actress," though no official casting announcements have been made yet.

Multiple sources describe Cruise as "loosely attached" to the project, which in Hollywood speak means: he is interested, but he will only officially commit once he reads the final script. That is classic Tom Cruise — he has never been the type to sign on without knowing exactly what he is getting into.

What Else Is Coming for Tom Cruise?

Beyond Doppelgänger, Cruise is set to star in Digger later this year (2026), though that one is not in the spy genre. And with the Mission: Impossible franchise wrapping up after eight films — including entries directed by Christopher McQuarrie — fans are definitely going to miss Ethan Hunt's gravity-defying stunts.

If Doppelgänger gets the green light with Cruise on board, it could easily become the next major action franchise for Paramount and Skydance. A spy thriller where your enemy literally looks like you? That is the kind of high-concept premise that could run for multiple films.

For now, no release date has been announced. But if you are a fan of Mission: Impossible, The Bourne Series, or just Tom Cruise doing absolutely insane stunts — keep Doppelgänger on your radar. This could be the spy movie that fills the Ethan Hunt-shaped hole in cinema.