On Thursday, the title for the upcoming Mission: Impossible movie was revealed to be Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The reveal came from a social media post from star Tom Cruise, and upon first seeing it, I couldn’t help but wonder just what the title could mean.

My speculation went to one of two places — either it has to do with the consequences of some sort of action or event, or it has to do with nuclear fallout, which wouldn’t be out of place in a franchise like this. I was leaning towards the latter, simply because the former is something that every film in the franchise seems to deal with.

RELATED – Mission: Impossible Title, Synopsis Revealed

But then the synopsis came out:

“The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.”

This new synopsis seemed to imply that the “fallout” has to do with the consequences of a “mission gone wrong.” But speaking with Empire, director Christopher McQuarrie seemed to put that speculation to rest with a straight answer.

“The title has multiple meanings in the film, from the literal to the figurative. There is the threat of nuclear terrorism hanging over the movie, which is the literal threat. There’s the notion that what’s happened in the movie is the end result of choices that Ethan Hunt has made in his life. It’s Ethan’s past come back to haunt him. It’s the fallout of all his good intentions.”

So yeah. It turns out it was “all the above,” which is great for a title that has the potential to take on multiple meanings. Are you looking forward to Mission: Impossible – Fallout? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Empire