Tom Cruise Forces Director Onto Plane Wing to Prove Stunt Feasibility

Legendary actor Tom Cruise has consistently pushed the boundaries of what's considered "impossible" in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but for the eighth installment, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, he truly elevated the stakes. In a recent press conference in Tokyo, Cruise revealed that director Christopher McQuarrie challenged him with stunts that were genuinely impossible. To illustrate just how difficult these feats were, McQuarrie himself was put to the test.

"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 explained. "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 stunt as seemingly simple yet impossible for Cruise. "Anything you'd describe, [he'd] say, 'No, you actually can't do that.' And I don't hear 'can't' from him," McQuarrie noted.

Cruise, known for his daring stunts in the M:I series, emphasized 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 explained. 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,'" Cruise added.

Surprisingly, McQuarrie enjoyed the experience. "It was great, actually," he said. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I would definitely do it again." Cruise also shared that he had been training for this stunt for years, and success hinged on 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 hit theaters worldwide on May 23, 2025.