Paramount is giving fans a special surprise to help promote this week’s digital release of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. But to fully enjoy it, you might need to know Morse code.
On Wednesday, the official X account for the Mission: Impossible series, led by Tom Cruise, posted a tempting offer. It sounded better than it really was. “The mission was compromised,” the account said. “So we had one option left: release everything. Full movie on YouTube now.” The post linked to a YouTube video from the Paramount Movies page.
When fans clicked the link, they didn’t get the full movie. Instead, they saw a moving image that looked like an IMF spy radio sending a message. The video played an audio file with a long series of Morse code. That code turns out to be the full script of the eighth Mission: Impossible movie.
Full script had to be transmitted in Morse Code
The video description said, “A secure livestream of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning full movie is running now.” It also mentioned the film’s villain: “But the Entity has infiltrated every major streaming platform, so this livestream was compromised. The full script had to be transmitted in Morse Code to avoid detection. We need your help decoding it. Your mission begins now.”
YouTube comments are turned off, but replies to the X post show that fans enjoyed the prank. One user wrote, “Peak trolling.” Another said, “The entire script in Morse Code. Insane! Love it lol.”
Film directed by:
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the movie came out in theaters in May and was promoted as Tom Cruise’s final time playing Ethan Hunt. Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg also star in the film.
The film became available on digital platforms this past Tuesday. It will stream on Paramount+ later, where the first seven movies in the series are already available.
In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, chief film critic David Rooney said, “Cruise’s commitment to performing his own stunts and giving audiences the analog thrill of in-camera daredevilry instead of digital fakery has progressed to ever more astonishing feats over the course of eight Mission: Impossible movies.”
