How to Watch the 'Mission: Impossible' Movies in Order

• Director: Brian De Palma
• Box Office: $457.7 Million
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%
• Notable Scene: Close Call Scene

1996's Mission: Impossible is our official introduction to Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, as he and his mentor (Jon Voight) embark on an assignment that ends with the mentor being killed and Ethan as the prime suspect in the killing. Hunt is now a wanted fugitive and as a result, recruits a genius hacker by the name of Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and a maverick pilot named Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) to help him break into a CIA office to help prove his innocence.

Mission: Impossible was the result of numerous attempts by Paramount Pictures to create a movie out of the television series, and despite lukewarm reviews, the film grossed $457.7 million worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing movie of 1996.

• Director: John Woo
• Box Office: $546.4 Million
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 56%
• Notable Scene: Rock Climbing Scene

Four years after the release of the first film, Tom Cruise reprised his role as Ethan Hunt for the second installment of the series Mission: Impossible II, this time around leading his IMF team on a mission to capture a lethal German virus before its released by terrorists. Hunt soon discovers he isn't the only one after this bioweapon, and he has to deal with a gang of international terrorists spearheaded by a former IMF agent who already has the virus in his possession. Mission Impossible II was released in theaters on May 24th, 2000, at wound up being the highest grossing movie of the year with $546 million at the box office.

• Director: J.J. Abrams
• Box Office: $398.5 Million
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%
• Notable Scene: Bridge Attack Scene

J.J. Abrams took on the directorial duties (his debut by the way) for 2006's Mission: Impossible III, which hones in on a now retired Ethan Hunt (or so he thinks) who's seemingly living a quiet life now training recruits for the IMF. That's is until he encounters Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) a cunning "will kill anybody in his way" international broker of arms and information, who has made Hunt and anything/anybody he loves his latest target.

Mission: Impossible III received high ratings from critics (the highest of all the Mission Impossible films up to that point), grossing $398 million at the box office.

• Director: Brad Bird
• Box Office: $694.7 Million
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
• Notable Scene: Ending Scene

Now onto Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol which was released in 2011. This time around, Ethan Hunt is dealing with the aftermath of the IMF being blamed for a terrorist attack on the Kremlin, which has in turn resulted in the entire agency being disavowed by the U.S. government. Now the IMF is off the grid completely with no resources or backup, and it's up to Hunt to clear the agency's name before the attack occurs along with fellow IMF fugitives with suspect motives.

At the time of its release, Ghost Protocol was the highest-grossing film of the Mission Impossible franchise, raking in $694 million at the box office. Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner were also introduced into the series.

• Director: Christopher McQuarrie
• Box Office: $682.7 Million
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
• Notable Scene: Bomb Around Benji Scene

Christopher McQuarrie made his introduction into the Mission Impossible franchise with 2015's Rogue Nation, which follows the aftermath of Ghost Protocol as Ethan Hunt is dealing with a new threat called The Syndicate, a highly-skilled group of operatives looking to achieve new world order through carefully planned terrorist attacks. Rogue Nation takes Ethan all around the world as he teams up with disavowed British agent Lisa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) whom he's unsure whether or not trust.

Filming locations for Rogue Nation included Casablanca, London, Southeast England, and Vienna, and the movie became the second highest-grossing in the franchise at the time of its release.

• Director: Christopher McQuarrie
• Box Office: $791.7 Million
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
• Notable Scene: Bathroom Fight

This is where Mission Impossible has officially left us until July 12th. Released in 2018, in Fallout the IMF is back and working with CIA assassin August Walker to prevent another terrorist disaster at the hands of arms dealer John Lark and a group of terrorists known as the Apostles. Their plan? To create a simultaneous nuclear attack on the Vatican, Jerusalem and Mecca, Saudi Arabia through the use of three plutonium cores.

Grossing almost $800 million (the highest in the franchise thus far), Fallout is still widely considered to be the best Mission Impossible film in the series, leaving the anticipation quite for this upcoming Dead Reckoning that is upon us.

• Director: Christopher McQuarrie
• Box Office: TBA
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: TBA
• Notable Scene: TBA

At the time of this writing, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is still not yet released. What we do know, however, is that Ethan Hunt and the IMF are dealing with a brand new threat that is going to result in another deadly race around the globe, and that events of this film will set up the sequel—Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.