Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in 'Mission: Impossible III' and Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump

It’s Tom Hanks vs. Tom Cruise as beloved film Forrest Gump has beaten several Mission: Impossible movies on Pluto, per Flix Patrol. As film lovers around the world celebrate New Year’s Day, what could be better than streaming some classic movies?

Forrest Gump is number one on Pluto’s streaming charts, followed by the first four Mission: Impossible films. It’s Hanks vs. Cruise, with one Tom taking the streaming crown. Also topping the chart on the first day of the year are two John Travolta classics, Grease and Pulp Fiction.

Hanks’ film was an instant and beloved classic when it debuted during a fairly busy summer of 1994. Among the box office hits were Forrest Gump, The Lion King, True Lies, and The Maverick. Directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script by Eric Roth (Dune: Part One), who adapted the novel by Winston Groom, the movie follows Forrest Gump, a man with a low IQ, as he travels around America and the world between the 1950s and 1970s, and is somehow a part of major historical events.

Forrest Gump went onto to be a smash hit, behind only The Lion King, and won multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Hanks’ second Best Actor Oscar in a row (he won for Philadelphia a year prior). The film is still popular among different generations and features standout performances by Hanks, Robin Wright, and Gary Sinise as Lieutenant Dan.

Meanwhile, the first four Mission: Impossible films were helmed by a who’s who of directors, including the legendary Brian De Palma (The Untouchables) for the first, John Woo (Hard Boiled) for part two, JJ Abrams (Star Trek and Star Wars: The Force Awakens) for part three, and Brad Bird (The Incredibles) for Ghost Protocol. All four films were critical and box office hits.

‘Mission: Impossible’ Franchise Could Continue With a Younger Ethan Hunt

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol Still from Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, in Mission: Impossible.   Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2 Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol Still from Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, in Mission: Impossible.   Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2

While there will never be a sequel to Forrest Gump, despite Hanks, Zemeckis, and Roth mapping out the plot, it does look like Mission: Impossible will continue, despite The Final Reckoning feeling like the last film in the nearly 30-year franchise. A new report says the next two installments will feature a younger actor playing Ethan Hunt in his early days as a new spy. Cruise will reportedly still appear in both sequels, but by going back to the true beginnings of Hunt’s career, it could add a fresh spin on the franchise.

However, the possibility of Mission: Impossible continuing with more films may be dependent on the box-office return of The Final Reckoning. The 2023 installment, Dead Reckoning – Part One, did decent at the worldwide box office with $570 million, but nowhere near the nearly $800 million haul of Fallout (2018). Considering Dead Reckoning cost $300 million to make, it wasn’t really much of a box-office smash (and that doesn’t include marketing costs). Paramount and Cruise will undoubtedly be watching the box office receipts when Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning opens on May 23, 2025.

Watch Forrest Gump and the first four Mission: Impossible films for free on Pluto.