Legendary actor Tom Cruise has truly epitomized the "impossible" in the Mission: Impossible series, but he's taken it to new heights with the eighth installment, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. In a fascinating twist, Cruise disclosed that the film's director, Christopher McQuarrie, challenged him with stunts that seemed genuinely impossible. To demonstrate the difficulty, Cruise decided to let McQuarrie experience the challenge firsthand.
During a recent press conference in Tokyo, Cruise shared insights into their discussions. "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 recounted. "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 chimed in, describing the particular stunt that stumped Cruise: "It was the simplest thing. Anything you'd describe, [he'd] say, 'No, you actually can't do that.' And I don't hear 'can't' from him."
Cruise, renowned for his daring stunts throughout the M:I franchise, 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, elaborating on how 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.'"
Surprisingly, McQuarrie embraced the experience. "It was great, actually," he remarked. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I would definitely do it again." Cruise also noted that he had been preparing for this stunt for years, emphasizing that selecting the right aircraft was crucial to executing it successfully.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival from May 13 to May 24, 2025, and will subsequently thrill audiences in theaters worldwide starting May 23, 2025.
