Legendary actor Tom Cruise has consistently pushed the boundaries of action filmmaking in the *Mission: Impossible* series, but even he admits that the eighth installment, *Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning*, raised the stakes to unprecedented levels. Director Christopher McQuarrie challenged Cruise to perform feats that seemed truly impossible, prompting the actor to turn the tables and demonstrate just how challenging those tasks really were.
"And then we talked about the story," Cruise recalled during a recent press conference in Tokyo, "and \[McQuarrie\] said, 'Okay, I want you to go from here to here in a couple of seconds.' I told him, 'I can't do that.' He then proposed more ideas, and I said, 'I really can't do that either.'"
According to McQuarrie, the specific challenge that stumped Cruise was surprisingly simple. "It was the simplest thing," McQuarrie admitted. "Anything you'd describe, \[he'd\] say, 'No, you actually can't do that.' And I don't hear 'can't' from him."
For Cruise, who has performed countless daring stunts throughout the *Mission: Impossible* franchise, his expertise spoke volumes. "I said, 'Just in terms of the speed, because the force of the air—moving quickly on the wing was... You just can't do it,'" Cruise explained. A "20-minute tutorial" helped McQuarrie grasp the physical limitations involved. "You're limited by the physics of how fast the aircraft is traveling and the force of the wind—it was utterly brutal. So I suggested, 'Why don't you try it yourself? Sit in the airplane, go out on the wing, and feel it. Feel the pressure.' So, here I am, training him."
McQuarrie thoroughly enjoyed the experience. "It was great, actually," he said. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I would definitely do it again." Cruise also mentioned during the conference that he had been training for this particular stunt for years, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right aircraft to bring the scene to life.
*Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning* will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, running from May 13 to May 24, 2025. Following its debut, the film will soar into theaters worldwide on May 23, 2025.
