Tom Cruise is feeling very thankful today. In an Instagram message this morning, Cruise showed his appreciation for the opening weekend success of his Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning: The latest (and possibly final) film in the franchise hit $204 million worldwide.

It’s not clear when it happened — sometime in the past 30 years — but the Mission: Impossible movies gradually evolved into Hollywood’s most dependable modern action franchise. Figuring out how this happened is far easier: Star Tom Cruise ‘s legendary willingness to do anything and everything to make each film a blockbuster while — as the franchise’s most powerful producer — savvily finding creative partners that bring out his best.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie has explained the movie's final moments and reveals why Tom Cruise made the call to scrap a planned post-credits scene

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning leaves the door open for a surprising reboot without really even trying.

Just as I’ve complimented Alien: Romulus’ 4DX variant as the movie that let me safely experience airlock decompression, the technical wizards who converted Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning for 4DX deserve credit for upping the game on this last dash for digital supremacy.