Renowned actor Tom Cruise has truly made "impossible" the defining word of the Mission: Impossible series. For the franchise's eighth installment, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, he raised the stakes to unprecedented heights. Cruise shared that director Christopher McQuarrie proposed stunts for the new film that seemed genuinely unachievable. To demonstrate the sheer difficulty, Cruise turned the tables and had McQuarrie attempt the maneuver himself.
"We discussed the scene, and [McQuarrie] said, 'Okay, I need you to get from here to here in just a few seconds,'" Cruise recalled at a recent Tokyo press conference. "I told him, 'I can't do that.' He then said, 'Alright, then I want you to do this and this.' Again, I had to say, 'I really can't do that.'"
"It was the most basic action," McQuarrie noted regarding the stunt that challenged Cruise. "No matter what I outlined, his response was, 'No, that's physically impossible.' I hardly ever hear 'can't' from him."
With years of performing perilous stunts for the Mission: Impossible films, Cruise relied on his experience. "I explained that the speed and the force of the air on the wing made rapid movement... simply not feasible," the actor stated. He described how a "20-minute practical session" helped McQuarrie grasp the constraints. "You're bound by the physics of the aircraft's speed and the wind force, which was absolutely punishing. So I suggested, 'I think you should try it yourself. Get in the plane, go out on the wing, and experience that pressure firsthand.' That's how I ended up training him."
McQuarrie thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. "It was fantastic, really," he said. "A lot of fun. I'd do it again without hesitation." Cruise also mentioned during the conference that he had trained for this specific stunt for years, noting that selecting the appropriate aircraft was crucial for its execution.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will debut at the Cannes Film Festival, running from May 13 to May 24, 2025. Following its festival premiere, the film launches in theaters globally on May 23, 2025.
