Denzel Washington and Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie team up for an October 2027 crime thriller

Denzel Washington will lead the next film from Christopher McQuarrie, the director of the last four Mission: Impossible movies. The untitled crime thriller has been greenlit by Amazon MGM Studios and Scott Stuber's United Artists and is already dated for a theatrical release on October 1, 2027. Deadline broke the news on Tuesday, October 20, and Collider and World of Reel followed.

Washington plays a former police detective serving a life sentence who learns he has terminal brain cancer. With about six months to live, he is granted compassionate release and goes home to reconnect with his estranged daughter and meet a grandson he never knew he had. His past, inevitably, catches up with him. Scott Barkan and Gregg Zehentner, the writers of Into the Dark and Edge of Fear, wrote the script.

According to Collider, the producers want to move quickly and are already looking for the actress who will play the daughter. No other cast has been announced.

Two action specialists meet

McQuarrie built his career alongside Tom Cruise, directing Jack Reacher (2012) and every Mission: Impossible from Rogue Nation (2015) to The Final Reckoning (2025). Before that, he won the Oscar for original screenplay for The Usual Suspects (1995). Washington, a two-time Oscar winner (Glory and Training Day), has become the face of the vigilante thriller with The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023).

United Artists, one of Hollywood's historic studios, was relaunched by Amazon MGM in 2024 under Scott Stuber, Netflix's former film chief. The October 1, 2027 date is for the United States; international release dates have not been announced.

What we don't know yet

There is no title, trailer or full cast, and the reports do not say whether the film will move to Prime Video after its theatrical run. Because the project comes from Deadline's reporting rather than an official studio release, details may change before cameras roll.