Window to the World, calling for Wind of Wisdom, as common sense is a gift to each soul, as common environment is the inseparable planet, as common desire is to live in a better world.
“8000 ft with 140 mph winds. No CGI.” Still doing the impossible, 30 years on: 62-year-old Tom Cruise receives 7-and-a-half-minute ovation at Cannes premier of Final Reckoning full of “mind-melting stunts”
Watch Tom Cruise Dangle Off a Plane in New ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Sneak Peek
Paramount Pictures has unveiled a jaw-dropping behind-the-scenes video from the upcoming Mission: Impossible installment, and in true Tom Cruise fashion, it features yet another mind-melting stunt — one that finds the legendary action star literally clinging to the side of a flying airplane. Yep, he actually did that. Of course he did. The new footage of The Final Reckoning shows Cruise gripping the wing of an aircraft flying 8,000 feet above the ground — no green screen, no tricks, just Cruise doing Cruise things. The actor is strapped in with a single safety cable, but otherwise untethered as the plane soars through the sky with him on it.
In a voiceover, director Christopher McQuarrie shares just how disorienting the experience was, explaining that the altitude and speed made it difficult to even look around without getting dizzy. “You can’t imagine how physically punishing it was for Tom to be on the wing. The wind distorts your vision. It’s almost impossible to breathe.”
The footage is staggering, and reflects what star Simon Pegg told Collider as part of our Collider’s Exclusive Preview event to promote the summer’s biggest movies: “Tom doesn’t do most of his stunts, he does ALL of his stunts. Our mantra has always been, the stunts are real. When you hand over to a stunt performer, the moment ceases to be about character and becomes all about the stunt. Tom and McQ know that those moments will become so much more impactful if it’s the actor in peril because the character remains present at all times.”
While details on the plot are being kept under wraps, the official synopsis reads: “Our lives are the sum of our choices. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” With McQuarrie co-writing alongside Erik Jendresen, and producing the film with Cruise himself, all signs point to an action-packed and emotionally driven sendoff, and they’re probably hiding another stunt that involves Cruise diving head-first into the Earth’s core to retrieve some sort of unobtanium.
Tom Cruise Lights The Fuse On ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ With 7½-Minute Cannes Ovation
It’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning day here in Cannes where the epic finale to the Tom Cruise-led franchise was just greeted with a 7½-minute ovation inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière. In fact, the clapping only stopped because the team moved to leave after the post-screening speeches. And there was lots of applause and cheers during that screening.
“I’m just very grateful, very grateful for 30 years to be able to entertain you with this franchise,” Cruise told the crowd afterward. “Grateful for my friend [pointing to director Christopher McQuarrie] every step of the way — what you’ve done, how you’ve expanded it, how we just went beyond our expectations. Your absolute care, your talent. You’re an amazing human being. It’s been a real privilege, a real pleasure, and I look forward to making a bunch of other kinds of movies with you.” Turning to the audience, he added, “We just want to thank you all. Thank you so much for everything, for allowing us to entertain you. It’s very special.”
Tom Cruise was last at Cannes in 2022, when the film festival gave him an honorary Palme d’Or and, in return, got one of the last bona fide Hollywood stars to grace their red carpet as he launched “Top Gun: Maverick.” Fighter jets swooped overhead, and Cruise, who hadn’t been to the festival in 30 years at that point, flashed that megawatt smile. Before you knew it, “Maverick” soared past one billion dollars at the box office.
On Wednesday night, Cruise ascended the steps of the Palais de Festivals once more for the gala premiere of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” The actor has long been in a category of one when it comes to his on-screen pursuits, and this is no different. It’s no easy task for a director to keep up with Cruise, but McQuarrie does admirable and inventive work, and wisely lets the action do the talking when the film is at its best.
“When you watch Tom tonight, there’s a moment where he’s in an airplane,” McQuarrie said. “He’s in a biplane, completely alone at the controls, and his biplane suffers some damage. Spoiler, there’s tension in this scene.” Cruise essentially was acting as the crew from that plane, McQuarrie explained, because at 10,000 feet above the African landscape, he was alone up there. “Tom is lighting the shot by how he’s positioning the plane and its relationship to the sun, and he’s operating focus just off-camera. He is the crew in every single shot you’re seeing. And nobody tells you to stop.”
McQuarrie’s only way of communicating with Cruise was via radio, but then, Cruise ventured out onto the wing — something the professional wing-walker they had consulted had warned Cruise not to attempt. Upon hearing that advice, McQuarrie said Cruise responded, ‘Thank you for your time,’ and it was clear that he would be able to do the stunt. “When you leave the cockpit of the plane, it’s like stepping onto the surface of another planet,” McQuarrie said. “The wind is hitting you in excess of 140 miles an hour coming off of the propeller. The molecules in the air are so dispersed. You’re breathing, but only physically. You’re not actually getting oxygen. And [1st assistant director] Mary Boulder is sitting next to me, and she’s got a stopwatch. And when Tom climbs out of the cockpit, I’ll say, ‘Start the clock.’”
They had learned that there was a limited window a human could safely be up there. “In about 12 minutes the fatigue of being blasted by this wind is breaking his entire body down to the point where it’s literally like two hours in the gym,” McQuarrie continued. “And Tom, being the perfectionist that he is, would get to about 12 minutes, and I would lean out the door at the helicopter, and Tom would go, ‘13 minutes.’ There was a moment when Tom had pushed himself to the point that he was so physically exhausted he couldn’t get back up off the wing. He was laying on the wing of the plane. Arms are hanging over the front of the of the wing. We could not tell if he was conscious or not. And we also knew that unless Tom did this, it was expressly agreed he was not in trouble, and he could, like, [call] ‘Cut.’ [But] you can’t do this when you’re unconscious. So we’re waiting to see if there’s any indication if Tom is OK.”
The additional terrifying factor was that the plane had only three minutes of fuel left — and Cruise had still not gotten up. They had been compelled to fly light, without a full tank, due to the aerobatics required. “He’s got three minutes to get up, but he’s been on that wing for 20 minutes,” said McQuarrie. “And we watched as Tom pulled himself up and stuck his head in the cockpit so that he could replenish the oxygen in his body and then climb up into the cockpit and bring the plane safely down to land. No one on Earth can do that.”
Cruise was officially awarded the title June 4, with Guinness’ editor-in-chief Craig Glenday saying, “Tom doesn’t just play action heroes — he is an action hero! … A large part of his success can be chalked up to his absolute focus on authenticity and pushing the boundaries of what a leading man can do,” he continued. “It’s an honour to be able to recognize his utter fearlessness with this new Guinness World Records title.”
In a video that shows Cruise’s many attempts to perfect the stunt, he jumps from a plane over and over, all while his parachute burns. Deadline revealed that “for several of the takes, Cruise had a 50 lb. snorri camera rig attached to his body for a closer shot of the fiery stunt,” making his death-defying leaps even more complicated. “We’re going to be real smart,” the actor can be heard saying before he performs the stunt again. “I’m not saying be risky. We don’t take risks, obviously.”
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — THE FINAL RECKONING is one of the summer’s first major blockbusters. It’s already made over $380 million at the global box office, per BoxOfficeMojo. In a note to fans, Cruise thanked “audience everywhere — for whom we all serve and for whom we LOVE to entertain.”
Taking advantage of Instagram’s image-friendly platform, the iconic action performer shared an impressive collection of Mission: Impossible photos. He showcased every director that’s taken part in this journey, as well as a bunch of shots dealing with action and friendship on set. He also tipped with this tipped his hat to those who had a hand along the way: “Over 30 years ago, I began the journey of producing my first film, Mission: Impossible. Since then, these eight films have taken me on the adventure of a lifetime. To the incredible directors, actors, artists, and crews across the globe that have helped bring these stories to life, I thank you. It has been a privilege to work alongside you all. Most importantly, I want to thank the audience, for whom it is our great pleasure to create these films, and for whom we all serve. We’re thrilled to share The Final Reckoning with you.”
Tom Cruise Reflects on Nearly 30 Years of ‘Mission: Impossible’ with 20 Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Tom Cruise is marking a big moment in his career with the release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The movie, which hit theaters last Friday, is the eighth film in the long-running Mission: Impossible series, and it’s being promoted as the final chapter in the story of Ethan Hunt.
Cruise has played the role since the first film debuted in 1996, and nearly 30 years later, he’s still performing wild stunts and delivering high-octane action. To celebrate this latest release, Cruise went on social media to share 20 behind-the-scenes photos from the making of the Mission: Impossible films. He posted them on X account, along with a heartfelt message thanking everyone who has been part of the journey.
Tom Cruise dangling from a wire in Mission: Impossible is still more thrilling than all your CGI armies and alien invasions combined.
[May 20, 2021] It was a rare thing even back then. Inside movie houses across America, the silence was so acute you could hear a popcorn kernel drop—never mind pins. That was because on the big beautiful cinema screen, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt was performing what 25 years and six Mission: Impossible movies later may still be his greatest stunt. And there weren’t any motorcycles revving up, nor was there a plane taking off. All we needed was an actor dangling from a wire over a glass floor. If you looked closely, too, out of the corner of his eye there suddenly would be a single drop of perspiration, which if it hit the floor meant game over. Trust us, Tom, you weren’t the only one sweating bullets that day.
This crackerjack sequence is the centerpiece of Brian De Palma’s first Mission: Impossible, and it remains a marvel today: an exercise in tension and a showcase of the benefits that come from letting a true master of his craft handle a summer blockbuster. It certainly became the calling card for Tom Cruise’s burgeoning reinvention of himself in the 1990s as an Übermensch action hero, and perhaps more importantly a movie producer. Indeed, Mission: Impossible was the first film Cruise produced with Paula Wagner via his new production company. It’s not a coincidence, then, that is where Cruise’s new clout began allowing him to work with auteurs who could rarely say no to his demands that he do his own stunts, sometimes at 25,000 feet.
The entire appeal of the Mission: Impossible movies is how. And the how is a wonder to behold here. Cruise dangles from the air for a grueling nine minutes, floating with graceful, willowy precision in a cold, sterile vacuum. With a binary color scheme of white walls offset by Cruise’s tight black shirt and silvery gray gloves, the visual palette is as intentionally muted as the characters’ lips. There is no score, almost no dialogue, and each time the decibel counter on Ethan’s wrist rises, or the temperature in the room increases by a fraction of a degree, the audience gasps.
Action spectacle has leaned with an ever heavier hand on computer generated nonsense. Perhaps it’s a key reason that the Mission: Impossible movies remain a generally celebrated breath of fresh air in the Hollywood tentpole landscape. Twenty-five years since the original movie’s release, Cruise is still doing these Ethan Hunt adventures, and narratively they’ve only gotten better, with the most recent two written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie being the best in the series. Their commitment to in-camera stunts and sophisticated action set pieces that put the focus on Cruise doing dazzling feats, however, feels even more vital now than then, as action sequences costing tens of millions of dollars, with digitized superhero sprites fighting hordes of animated robots, has come to dominate multiplexes more than ever before.
(unquote)
