Mission: Impossible has led Tom Cruise to achieve some genuinely impossible milestones in the action genre. The actor has jumped between two skyscrapers using a rope and a harness. He has climbed over Burj Khalifa, or more accurately, fallen off it. He then hung by the side of a cargo plane before holding his breath underwater for six minutes. And then he broke his foot while jumping over rooftops. And he’s done it all on his own.
After all this time, you would be forgiven for failing to imagine what more he could bring to this table of craziness. How about jumping off a cliff on a motorcycle – six times!
That’s the centrepiece stunt in Tom Cruise’s next venture as IMF’s Ethan Hunt – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Some BTS footage shows he jumped off the cliff by racing his motorbike on a rail set up specifically for the stunt and then descended on a parachute, leaving the vehicle crushed. In order for the production crew to capture all angles, he did the same deed six times on the same day.
While fans are always addictively awaiting Cruise’s physically and mentally challenging action stunts, his co-stars are equally in awe of him. Vanessa Kirby, who plays Alanna Mitsopolis, a.k.a White Widow, in the film series, shared how ‘fearless’ Cruise was even while jumping more than a thousand feet to the ground, in a recent conversation with Variety.
“He did it consecutively … and repeatedly so he could capture all the different angles and sides of it. He was just so calm. He had no fear. He just found it exhilarating.”
Further praising Cruise for his belief in his work and his passion for the craft, Kirby continued:
“That kind of belief in cinema and what one could achieve and his passion for it is so inspiring. He kind of believes he can do the impossible, and then he does…I love being a part of the franchise. I’m really excited to come back.”
Vanessa Kirby’s character will find roots in the series’ beginning as she plays the daughter of Max, whom Hunt arrested in the very first Mission: Impossible.
This is not the only crazy stunt Cruise has shot for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I. Recently it was revealed that he has also shot an action sequence on a high-speed moving train. Director Christopher McQuarrie recalled the difficulties of shooting that particular scene, which he says he wouldn’t have done if he had known the challenges.
Nevertheless, in the end, after more than 33 months of extensive shoots, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I is all but ready for release. It’s being teased as a visual spectacle that will outdo everything the 60-year-old actor has done previously.
The film is scheduled to release in theaters on July 12, 2023.
