Legendary actor Tom Cruise has truly elevated the "impossible" in the Mission: Impossible series, particularly with the eighth installment, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. For this film, director Christopher McQuarrie pushed the boundaries by challenging Cruise with stunts that seemed genuinely impossible. To drive the point home, Cruise had McQuarrie attempt one of these feats himself.
During a recent press conference in Tokyo, Cruise recounted their discussion about the film's stunts. "And then we talked about the story and [McQuarrie] was like, 'Okay, I want you to go from here to here in a couple of seconds,'" Cruise said. "I was like, 'I can't do that.' He's like, 'Okay, well, I want you to do this and this.' I was like, 'I really can't do that.'" McQuarrie added that the stunt in question was straightforward but still beyond Cruise's capabilities. "Anything you'd describe, [he'd] say, 'No, you actually can't do that.' And I don't hear 'can't' from him."
Cruise, known for his death-defying stunts in the M:I series, explained the physical limitations he faced. "I said, 'Just in terms of the speed, because the force of the air, for me to move quickly on the wing was… You just can't do it,'" he stated. He further elaborated that a "20-minute tutorial" helped McQuarrie understand the challenge. "You're limited by the physics of how fast the aircraft is traveling and the force of the wind, that was utterly brutal. So I just said, 'Listen, I think the best thing is if you just do it. Go out, sit in the airplane, go out on the wing, and feel it. Feel the pressure. So, here I am, training him.'" McQuarrie, after experiencing it firsthand, found it exhilarating. "It was great, actually," he said. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I would definitely do it again." Cruise also mentioned that he had been training for this particular stunt for years, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right aircraft.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival from May 13 to May 24, 2025, and will be released in theaters worldwide on May 23, 2025.
