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Watch Tom Cruise Break Down His ‘Most Dangerous’ Stunt Ever for New ‘Mission: Impossible’

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Tom Cruise is proving that no mission is too impossible.

The “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part I” star shared a behind-the-scenes video of his stuntwork on the first installment of his farewell to character Ethan Hunt.

“So excited to share what we’ve been working on,” Cruise tweeted.

“Dead Reckoning” is the first half of the conclusion to the 1996 film franchise. Cruise has played undercover CIA agent Ethan Hunt for close to 30 years, with “Mission: Impossible 7” arriving in theaters July 14, 2023, soon followed by “Mission: Impossible 8” out June 28, 2024.

The stunt video shows Cruise training to achieve the most dangerous stunt of his career, with him riding a motorcycle off a cliff. “This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” Cruise says in the video filmed while in Norway for production in 2020.

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“It all comes down to one thing: the audience,” Cruise adds.

The “Eyes Wide Shut” alum trained in motocross and base jumping for months leading up to the filmed stunt.

“I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I don’t want to get tangled in the bike,” Cruise previously told Empire magazine about the jaw-dropping feat. “If I do, that’s not going to end well.”

Of course, that’s not the only cutting-edge stunt Cruise masters for “Mission: Impossible.” A first look at the film during Paramount Pictures’ showcase at CinemaCon earlier this year captured Cruise holding onto a plane while flying over South Africa. Cruise also recently thanked fans for their support in a video of himself jumping out of a plane .

“The ‘MI’ series really does represent the pinnacle of filmmaking excellence,” Paramount president Brian Robbins said earlier this year at CinemaCon. “And we have no doubt that this new picture will set the bar even higher.”

Robbins continued, “After five release dates and a whole bunch of rumors where this movie would end up, we are finally ready to bring this phenomenal movie to where it always belonged, and that is your theaters.”

Director Christopher McQuarrie helms the upcoming film, which will exclusively have a theatrical release due in part to Cruise’s urging. Production for “Dead Reckoning Part I” was repeatedly halted by the COVID-19 pandemic but eventually wrapped in September 2021. The budget reportedly ballooned upwards of $290 million during production, with additional funds allocated to finish post-production on the action epic.

So excited to share what we’ve been working on. #MissionImpossible pic.twitter.com/rIyiLzQdMG — Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) December 19, 2022

Mission: Impossible 7 features Tom Cruise's 'most dangerous stunt' yet

Ethan Hunt is back, and he's still defying gravity.

The veil is slowly being lifted on Ethan Hunt's new mission.

Not much is known about Mission: Impossible 7 , including a title, but Tom Cruise 's heart-stopping new stunt was unveiled during Paramount's presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday, and it left the audience screaming.

Footage showed Cruise working with stuntmen to prepare to ride a motorbike off of a massive ramp on an also massive cliff, fly off the bike, and parachute to the ground. Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie called it not only the biggest stunt in the movie, but "by far the most dangerous stunt we've ever done."

Getting the stunt right involved 500 hours of skydiving training; 13,000 motorbike jumps (yes, you read that right); and months and months building the ramp in Norway. Footage ends with Cruise doing the final stunt himself in true Cruise fashion, which got a huge reaction from the CinemaCon crowd. "Tom Cruise rode a motorcycle off a cliff six times today," a stunt coordinator said.

"The only thing that scares me more is what we have planned for MI8 ," McQuarrie exclaimed.

In addition to Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Henry Czerny also star.

The film, like so many others, suffered numerous COVID-related delays on its way to theaters. Earlier this summer, filming was put on pause after an unknown number of positive coronavirus test results popped up during regular testing. That delay famously came months after the film's star made headlines after a leaked audio clip seemingly featured him berating crew members for breaking COVID-19 safety protocols on the set. In the audio snippet, Cruise can be heard yelling, "I see you do it again, you're f---ing gone!

Before that, filming in Italy shuttered in Feb. 2020 when the country became the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Ethan Hunt's latest impossible mission is now scheduled for release on May 27, 2022.

Tom Cruise's Most Dangerous Stunt Yet Is Showcased in New ‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One’ Video

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The Summer 2023 movie season has been full of action-packed thrill rides thus far. It’s only going to get even more explosive with the release of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One . The seventh cinematic entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise is set to be the biggest and most dangerous mission yet for star Tom Cruise . That means the life-threatening practical stunts had to up their game. Now, with just a few short weeks till the epic film’s debut, a new featurette previews Cruise’s craziest stunt yet, Speed Flying.

The two-minute behind-the-scenes look takes fans through the sport that very few people on Earth know how to do. Of course one of those people is now the famous movie star. Not to be confused with Skydiving, Speed Flying is a very unpredictable and fear-inducing experience where you're just feet off the ground racing down a mountain with only a small parachute keeping the participant from careening into the rocky cliffside below. Things like wind and weather are your biggest enemy when it comes to Speed Flying. That’s even before you decide to film it.

No helicopter, drone, or crane could get the coverage director Christopher McQuarrie needed for this death-defying stunt, so the ambitious filmmaker had to make a gimbal system to fly with Cruise strapped to another flyer and operated from a helicopter. As with past Mission: Impossible stunts , Cruise had been training for years to perfect this one sequence, and it’s not something you want to try at home. Just the behind-the-scenes footage alone is awe-inspiring. With the camera zipping in and out of mountainsides, you might want to have a barf bag next to you while watching this featurette — it’s just that nuts. While stunts like the motorcycle jump off a cliff have been the main focus of the marketing up to this point, the unpredictable nature of this Speed Flying stunt may make it Cruise’s most dangerous stunt to date.

RELATED: Tom Cruise Is on the Run Again in New 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning' Images

What Is Dead Reckoning Part One About?

Dead Reckoning Part One sees Ethan Hunt ( Cruise ) and his IMF team chasing after an extremely dangerous bioweapon that threatens the very existence of life on Earth. However, it’s not just the weapon IMF has to worry about on this globe-trotting mission as Ethan’s past has come back to haunt him. That puts Ethan at odds with his team as he has to weigh the stakes of this deadly mission with the lives of the people he cares about most. There's a cost to every decision and there may be blood to pay if Ethan’s not too careful.

When Does Dead Reckoning Part One Release?

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One crashes into theaters on July 12, before the second part releases on June 28, 2024. While action fans wait for Cruise's next dance with death, you can view the insane Speed Flying featurette down below.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Tom Cruise Elaborates on Most 'Dangerous' Mission: Impossible Stunt Yet

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Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise shared details about his upcoming action spy film Mission: Impossible 7 , which will feature his most death-defying stunt yet.

In a recap of Paramount Pictures' CinemaCon showcase, ComicBook.com described a behind-the-scenes montage from the set of Mission: Impossible 7 which featured Cruise explaining, practicing and ultimately performing the stunt that he called "the most dangerous thing we've ever attempted." The stunt involved Cruise driving a motorcycle off a cliff in Norway , letting go of the bike in midair and freefalling before deploying his parachute. Cruise trained for an entire year to perform the stunt, skydiving 500 times and performing 13,000 motorcycle jumps. “I had to get so good at this so there’s no way I miss my mark,” Cruise explained in the clip.

RELATED: Mission: Impossible 7 And 8 Scrap Back-To-Back Filming Plans

The video cut to the day of shooting in Norway, where the Mission: Impossible crew had prepared a long straightaway and ramp leading up to a massive cliff. Cruise drove off the ramp and let go of his motorcycle, pulling his parachute while gliding through the air to applause from the crew and stunt team. Afterward, Cruise declared he could wait longer before letting go of the bike, and so performed the stunt multiple times. "Tom Cruise just rode a bike off a cliff six times today," one of the crew members exclaimed.

The Mission: Impossible franchise has become synonymous with Cruise performing his own impressive stunts. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation showcased his character holding onto the side of an Airbus A400M Atlas as it took off from a runway, and Mission: Impossible - Fallout featured Cruise as Hunt performing a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jump from 25,000 feet in the air. Alongside his daring motorcycle jump, Cruise also performed a fight sequence atop a moving train for the upcoming Mission: Impossible 7 .

RELATED: Mission: Impossible 7 Adds Deadpool 2, Game Of Thrones And Stranger Things Alums

"The only thing that scares me more is what we’ve got planned for Mission 8, " director and writer Christopher McQuarrie concluded. Paramount also previewed Top Gun: Maverick , another action sequel from Cruise and McQuarrie, at its CinemaCon presentation.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible 7 stars Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and Shea Whigham. The film arrives in theaters May 27, 2022.

KEEP READING: Tom Cruise's M:I-7 Shuts Down Production Over Positive COVID-19 Test

Source: Paramount Pictures, via ComicBook.com

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

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Tom Cruise Previews 'Most Dangerous Stunt We've Ever Done' in Footage from 'Mission: Impossible 7'

Tom Cruise was previously seen filming the death-defying stunt for Mission: Impossible 7

Tom Cruise has done plenty of wild stunts — including some that have ended in injuries — but a new on Mission: Impossible 7 is beating all the rest.

In special footage shown at CinemaCon on Thursday, Cruise, 59, and the stunt team for the movie previewed a wild stunt in which Cruise himself drives a motorbike off a cliff.

The sequence revolves around Cruise as he rides "off of a massive ramp on an also massive cliff, fly off the bike, and parachute to the ground," according to Entertainment Weekly .

"By far the most dangerous stunt we've ever done," writer-director Christopher McQuarrie said in the clip, via EW . The footage also reveals the stunt took 500 hours of skydiving training and 13,000 motorbike jumps to get it just right.

The clip then ends with Cruise performing the stunt himself, with a crew member saying, " Tom Cruise rode a motorcycle off a cliff six times today."

Cruise was previously seen filming the death-defying stunt last August.

In the series of shots, Cruise is seen attached to a set of wires as he rides a speeding motorcycle off of a large ramp before he throws himself from the bike, backed by the safety wires attached to his back.

According to the Daily Mail , the stunt was filmed on a 650-foot ramp on the film's set in Oxfordshire, England, and was "estimated to have cost £2 million," or more than $2.6 million in U.S. dollars.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories

The Mission: Impossible film saga is based on the popular television series of the same name, and the seventh iteration in the famed set of films will follow Cruise's Ethan Hunt as he takes on another mission.

Cruise previously revealed in January 2019 that the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible films will be shot back-to-back with Christopher McQuarrie writing and directing both films.

Mission: Impossible 7 was originally scheduled to be released on July 23, 2021 but has been pushed back to a new release date of May 27, 2022 amid the current health crisis.

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Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie break down the 'most dangerous' stunt they've done for latest 'M:I' film

"i've wanted to do it since i was a little kid," cruise says of driving a motorcycle over a cliff in "mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one.".

Tom Cruise is breaking down his latest death-defying Mission: Impossible stunt.

Over the course of seven films, the series has become known for its dangerous and elaborate stunts almost always performed by Cruise himself . And his latest mission, Dead Reckoning Part One , is no exception, with stunts like speed flying — a more dangerous form of skydiving — and car chases through the cobblestone streets of Italy on the docket. Plus, the biggest stunt of them all that includes a motorcycle jump off a cliff into a base jump.

On Wednesday's Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One “Creating the Impossible” special, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie went deep on the film’s signature sequence, which begins with Cruise driving a motorcycle down a giant ramp and right off the edge over a cliff, where he lets go of the bike as it falls to a crash and he eventually opens a parachute.

“I’ve wanted to do it since I was a little kid,” Cruise said of the jump. “It all comes down to one thing: the audience.”

The stunt was filmed in Norway where a group of engineers and technicians constructed a ramp on the top of a mountain that took “a number of months” to build, according to McQuarrie, with all of the supplies being brought in by helicopter. The director pointed out that if Cruise was to be blown off course while trying to drive down the ramp it would result in a terrible accident. Once he’s off the bike and doing the base jump, Cruise is surrounded by what’s described as a “rock bowl” where he has to deploy his parachute and try to move himself away from the mountain.

“We’ve been working on this for years,” Cruise said. “You train and drill over and over and over and over again. With a jump like this, the challenge is finding the cameras, it’s the amount of preparation, and then it’s the weather.”

Luckily the weather definitely cooperated on shoot day. After parachuting out of a helicopter near the end of the ramp to get his body warmed up and to gauge the elements, Cruise went on to perform the actual stunt six straight times in one day, with each attempt just as breathtaking as the one before it.

All of the previous six films in the franchise have a signature stunt or two that helps set them apart from the others. And for Dead Reckoning Part One , the hope is that this is that stunt. That is, until they start filming Dead Reckoning Part Two .

“This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” McQuarrie said. “The only thing that scares me more is what we have planned for Mission 8 .”

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premieres Wednesday, July 12 in theaters.

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Screen Rant

Tom cruise's 14 mission: impossible stunts ranked by most dangerous.

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Both the Mission: Impossible franchise and its lead actor and producer Tom Cruise have become synonymous with blood-curdling, dangerous stunts. With each new film, Cruise insists on doing his own stunts , taking it upon himself to risk his life in increasingly, treacherous sequences for the quality of the finished product. At this point, Cruise is a bona fide stunt performer whose bravery in dangerous stunts allows the capture of unique moments not seen in other movies.

Luckily, Cruise's training, dedication, and ambition, coupled with experts' guidance, film direction, and stunt coordination make these sequences as safe as possible so that Cruise's stunts can get even bigger. Nonetheless, unpredictable elements and variables and there being nothing Cruise won't do for a Mission: Impossible stunt make them life-threatening. Here are 14 of the most dangerous times Tom Cruise has risked everything to make Mission: Impossible's audience's pulse race.

14 Helicopter-Train Jump in Mission: Impossible

Seemingly shot before Cruise had a death wish, the stunts in Mission: Impossible seem tame compared to that of the franchise's later entries. However, that's not to say there weren't a few perilous moments, and one that stands out is during the film's climax. After tussling with Jon Voight's villain Jim Phelps on top of a TGV bullet train and jumping onto a helicopter that soon explodes, Cruise's Ethan Hunt then jumps back onto the train.

This stunt was filmed on a sound stage in Pinewood Studios using a wind generator firing dangerous winds of 140 mph to emulate the blast. Considering his stunt career trajectory, Cruise was initially reluctant to include the stunt. Therefore, this stunt could be the origin story of his passion for doing his own Mission: Impossible stunts. After completing the jump four times, Cruise was bleeding, bruised, and cut; however, it was a sign of even more danger to come.

13 Cable Drop in Mission: Impossible

One of the most iconic scenes, not only in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but in spy movies, sees Hunt rappel down from the ceiling into a locked-down room. Breaking into Langley, the CIA's headquarters, Hunt is lowered into the room to avoid triggering alarms. As if this weren't dangerous enough, Hunt's wire lifeline is also let go by Franz Kreiger, causing him to plummet to the ground and stop just inches from the floor.

The stunt was all about balance, as Cruise discovered quickly, repeatedly overbalancing and thwacking his head on the floor. Brian De Palma was about to shoot the scene differently when Cruise filled his shoes with pound coins for counterbalance and got the shot. Though this sequence is not one of Cruise's most dangerous stunts, hanging and falling 40 feet from the ceiling for days and repeatedly enduring blows to the head isn't exactly health and safety conscious.

12 Aquarium Explosion in Mission: Impossible

Another entry from the movie that started it all, this stunt involves Cruise outrunning 16 tons of water bursting out of an exploding aquarium. After learning that he's been double-crossed, Hunt makes his escape from his untenable position by throwing a piece of exploding gum at a fish tank in a Prague restaurant. After stunt specialists delivered underwhelming attempts, de Palma grudgingly let Cruise undertake the sequence.

It says something about Cruise's body of stunt work that this one is low down the list. The aquarium sequence was incredibly dangerous when taking into account the water, shattering glass, and miscommunication regarding the exact timing of the stunt. Although Cruise limped away with a hurt ankle (not for the last time), the stunt made for a spectacular scene.

Related: Mission: Impossible Movies Ranked - From The 1996 Original to Fallout

11 Casablanca Bike Chase in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

In a movie with such iconic stunts, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation's bike chase is somewhat eclipsed. The thrilling sequence sees Hunt racing after Rebecca Ferguson's Isla Faust, first by car and then on a BMW S1000RR motorcycle. Although Hunt's chase is unsuccessful and Faust escapes, this sizzling pursuit around the extreme turns of the Casablanca highway put Cruise's life firmly in danger.

Having started riding motorcycles at the age of 10, it is no surprise that Cruise is keen to use them in his stunts. Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie even wrote the script around this motorcycle chase, and it pays off as it injects a high-octane punch brimming with raw danger. Cruise rides up to 130 mph and leans over sometimes just inches from the ground, and all without a helmet.

10 Paris Bike Chase in Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Mission: Impossible - Fallout somehow managed to outdo its predecessor's motorcycle chase, but this time Hunt becomes the hunted. For this sequence, Cruise and his fellow biker stunt performers abandoned their safety rigs, meaning that did the whole chase by free riding. All the turns weaving in and out of oncoming traffic and going well above the Parisian speed limits executed by Cruise, were all as dangerous as they look.

Hurtling through the streets at over 100 mph with cars and bikes pursuing and coming at him head-on sounds like enough to deal with, but McQuarrie revealed Mission: Impossible - Fallout's motorcycle chase was more perilous than it seemed. Between numerous automotive variables, slippery wet cobblestones, and cameras seeking close-ups at stomach-turning speeds just inches away from his head, it's amazing Cruise escaped from shooting this sequence without a scratch. Further, a miscommunication problem with the local stunt drivers meant they sometimes failed to hit their mark.

9 Free Climbing Cliffhanger in Mission: Impossible 2

The opening of the franchise's second film establishes that even in Hunt's time off between missions he enjoys getting his heart pumping. It is during some R&R mountain free climbing at Dead Horse Point in Utah that Hunt gets his mission that sets up M ission: Impossible 2 . Despite safety precautions taken by the film's production, it shows what Cruise is made of.

Unlike his adrenaline junkie character, Cruise wore a safety rope throughout the sequence, however, the margin of error was so chillingly slim that even director John Woo had to look away. The only scene where the free climber in the shot isn't Cruise is when Hunt almost slips and tumbles between two cliffs. Other than that, it's really him hanging off the red rocks, 600 feet above a talus slope and a further 2000 feet from the ground. It's a precarious, impressive feat and a great opening sequence.

Related: Every Time Tom Cruise's Hunt "Died" In The Mission: Impossible Series

8 Roof Jump in Mission: Impossible - Fallout

One of the most famous stunt accidents in recent years, Cruise's ankle break occurred while filming a relatively straightforward stunt in London for Mission: Impossible - Fallout . As he leaps from one building to another, misjudging it horribly, Cruise clatters into the building's side and bends his foot nine ways to Sunday.

Though it might not seem as dangerous as the other stunts on this list, as anyone who has seen the nauseating footage of the injury can attest, this jump looked very painful. It was also an expensive injury, as Cruise was unable to continue filming it halted production for seven weeks and cost the studio $80 million. This was of the few times a Mission: Impossible stunt has gone wrong, and it shows how real the stakes are and that Cruise is, in fact, human.

7 Eye-Watering Knife Fight in Mission: Impossible 2

A similarly disturbing stunt that features in Mission: Impossible 2, and the risk was even higher. During the third-act battle, Dougray Scott's villain Sean Ambrose tries to sink his very sharp knife into Hunt's eye. To ensure maximum realism, Woo wanted Scott to genuinely push down with all of his force onto Cruise's eye. During the stunt, the blade gets as close as a quarter-inch away, Cruise being protected only by a steel cable attached to an overhead rig. Needless to say, if these cables malfunctioned, the consequences could be at the very least life-changing and at the very most life-ending.

6 HALO Jump in Mission: Impossible - Fallout

The mission in Paris in Mission: Impossible - Fallout begins with a high-altitude low-open jump that goes awry when Henry Cavill's character August Walker's oxygen supply malfunctions. The sequence is breathtaking and its realism is palpable with Cruise's face alight as he exhibits both expert skydiving and high-caliber acting. It's the fruit borne by hard work and sheer nerve in the face of danger, and not just from Cruise.

Falling from 25,000 feet, Cruise, Cavill's stunt double, and a videographer jumped 106 times (including rehearsals) and shot the sequence in three-minute takes, once per day, to ensure the dusk lighting was perfect. The scene is three takes stitched together, each more dangerous than the last. Jumping out of the plane is hazardous enough, and there was a serious risk of colliding with Cavill's double when filming Hunt plummeting to Walker's aid. Finally, during the take in which Hunt saves Walker, Cruise had to judge the height at which to stop providing him oxygen and deploy his parachute.

5 The Airbus Scene In Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

During the comic opening scene and plane stunt of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation , Benji Dunn fails to remotely open the door to let Hunt onto a plane in Minsk, Belarus. This gave Cruise the opportunity to perform a stunt in which he clings to the side of an Airbus A400M plane as it takes off. The scene follows Hunt ascending thousands of feet into the air; as the seconds elapse the danger proliferates.

Considering Cruise was bolted to the plane via a harness, at speeds of 260 mph, birds and debris became the biggest dangers. Indeed, the actor was actually injured by a pebble at high speed. The stunt is even more terrifying considering that, according to McQuarrie, Cruise was wearing earplugs and contact lenses, meaning he couldn't see or hear. Further, the toxic fumes from the engine added potential long-term effects to the mix.

Related: Tom Cruise’s New Cliff Stunt Creates A Big Mission: Impossible 8 Challenge

4 Helicopter Chase in Mission: Impossible - Fallout

During the Mission: Impossible - Fallout helicopter chase stunt , Hunt finds himself on a rope hanging from a moving helicopter, eventually crawling up the rope to fly it and chase Cavill's character. Again, all that stands between Cruise and certain death, as he hangs out of the side of the helicopter, is a harness. That said, what makes this sequence especially dangerous is the proximity to which the two helicopters come to each other.

Cruise piloted the helicopter himself after becoming certified in an unusually accelerated timeframe and training hard for 16 hours per day. Moreover, flying in dim seasonal light Cruise got as close as a few feet from the other helicopter's rotor blades. It was so dangerous that director McQuarrie has said that he wouldn't have begun filming the sequence had he known beforehand what it took to capture.

3 Underwater Heist in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

In Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation , Hunt and his team are tasked with swapping a file in an underwater database. When he fails to open the escape hatch, Faust must come and save him to prevent him from drowning. This extremely dangerous stunt had real stakes; both Cruise and Ferguson risked their lives holding their breaths while exerting themselves, burning through oxygen at a rapid rate.

Cruise's underwater Rogue Nation heist stunt was filmed in a succession of continuous shots, meaning the actors had to train to hold their breath for over six minutes. According to McQuarrie, by the end of the stunt's 10-day shooting schedule, Cruise was spent, with nitrogen in his blood and brain fog so bad that he couldn't memorize his lines. As if this life-threatening sequence weren't enough, Cruise also had to perform a jump off of a 120-foot ledge to get Hunt into the subaqueous security system.

2 Climbing the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

The franchise's most memorable stunt saw Cruise climbing the side of the Burj Khalifa , the tallest building in the world. In Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Hunt had to 11 floors of the 2,722-foot skyscraper to get to the 130th floor with only adhesive gloves, one of which fails. Though secured with a harness, Cruise actually performed this climb almost half a mile in the air, including the part where he plummeted when the glove failed.

Both the scene and the shoot itself were a race against the clock. It was time sensitive to film, as Cruise's harness was at risk of cutting off the actor's circulation, and it doesn't tend to be easy to breathe at that height. This stunt is the epitome of danger, a truly petrifying feat; nevertheless, the sensational scene speaks for itself.

1 Motorcycle Jump in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Cruise himself has labeled the marquee motorcycle cliff stunt Mission: Impossible 7 as the greatest in cinema history. It's a stunt he's wanted to perform since he was a child, and is the most dangerous yet. It certainly delivers the wow factor in the film's trailers.

Shot in Norway, the stunt involves Cruise riding his motorcycle off of a cliff, propelling into a nosedive, and deploying a parachute. Cruise performed 13,000 training jumps for the sequence to ensure he could execute it with the precision required. This Evel Knievel-like jump that's been all over the marketing campaign has unquestionably piqued fans' interest in the eagerly anticipated next Mission: Impossible installment.

Sources: The New York Times , The Independent

Key Release Dates

Mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one, mission: impossible - dead reckoning part two.

Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise Attempts His 'Most Dangerous' Stunt Yet in New 'Mission: Impossible' Movie

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Tom Cruise is pushing himself to the limit for his next project. In a video shared to social media on Monday, fans got an inside look at how Cruise prepared to complete the most dangerous stunt of his career -- a motorcycle jump off of a cliff into a base jump -- for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One .

"I've wanted to do it since I was a little kid," Cruise said of the stunt. "It all comes down to one thing -- the audience."

Christopher McQuarrie, the film's director, admitted that "there's a lot going into this stunt."

"Tom put together this master plan to coordinate all of these experts in each of the particular disciplines involved to make this whole thing happen," McQuarrie said.

Cruise lived by his "don't be careful, be confident" mantra as he underwent a year of base training, advanced skydive training, a lot of canopy skills and a lot of tracking in preparation for the stunt.

"I have to get so good at this that there's just no way that I miss my marks," Cruise, who completed over 500 skydives and more than 13,000 motocross jumps during his training, said.

Even with the help of drone cameras, a GPS chip, a ramp constructed with materials flown in by helicopter, and Cruise's internal speedometer -- the motorcycle doesn't have one -- base jumping coach Miles Daisher revealed that there are lots of things that could go wrong, so much so that "you're not going to make it."

Cruise did make it, though, completing the dangerous stunt six times in one day.

"This is far and away the most dangerous thing we've ever attempted," McQuarrie said. "The only thing that scares me more is what we have planned for Mission 8 ."

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will hit theaters next summer.

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Mission Impossible

How the cast of Mission: Impossible felt watching Tom Cruise riding a bike off a cliff in Dead Reckoning

Topic: Film (Arts and Entertainment)

Tom Cruise rides a motorbike. He is in the air with mountains and blue sky in the background.

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, which is out in Australia on July 8. ( Supplied: Christian Black )

In the seventh and latest Mission: Impossible movie, actor Tom Cruise performs what director Christopher McQuarrie describes as his most dangerous stunt yet — driving a motorbike straight off a cliff.

"We have a motto on this movie now, which is, "that's a terrible idea. When do we start?" McQuarrie said in an interview with ABC News.

"The more ill-advised something seems, that's how we know we're onto something. And what you're seeing in this movie is just Tom and I taking everything we've learned from all the movies previously — not just Mission: Impossible — [but] Top Gun, Edge of Tomorrow. All the movies we've done separately and together and just applying it to this one."

A helicopter flies above the mountains. There is a ramp made of scafold and a man is suspended above a motorbike high above.

The cast watched Tom Cruise perform the stunt about eight times in a row. ( Supplied: Christian Black )

In Dead Reckoning Part One, which releases in Australia this week, Ethan and his team of spies race across the globe to face off against a sophisticated, evolving AI threat.

Dead Reckoning is the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible series, and the first of two parts.

It stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Pom Klementieff, who was present when Cruise made his death-defying leap.

"We all were watching, we were in Norway and we saw him do it seven or eight times in a row in front of us, it was insane," Klementieff, who plays new character Paris, said.

"It's easier to be there than it is to wait to hear if it went well," Pegg added.

"If you're back at the hotel or the cruise ship we were staying on at the time -- just watching your watch and just waiting, it's terrifying. It's better to be there. Get it over with, tear the bandaid off, see it happen. But my God it was extraordinary."

A woman with short blonde hair looks to the left. She wears a brown jacket with gold details.

Pom Klementieff plays new character Paris in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. ( Supplied: Christian Black )

Still, McQuarrie says another stunt in Part Two, which is due out June 2024, will top even this one.

"So if you go back and look at the other Mission: Impossibles you can see within other sequences, the dress rehearsals for the sequences we're doing now, after every movie, we just look at one another and say 'we can do better'.'"

A man sits on a motorbike next to a man who is standing talking to him and pointing straight ahead.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on set. ( Supplied: Christian Black )

Currently, the Mission: Impossible series has grossed over $US3.5 billion worldwide ($5.3 billion)

Cruise is famous for performing his own stunts. In 2018's Fallout, he set a record and became the first person to ever execute a high altitude low opening, or HALO, jump on film.

Shooting during a pandemic

Production on Dead Reckoning occurred during the pandemic, and that allowed the filmmakers unprecedented access to cities like Venice, Rome and Abu Dhabi. The lockdown created both difficulties and opportunities, McQuarrie said.

"I don't think we could have shot in Rome or Venice the way that we did, had we not done so during the pandemic," he said.

"Everything was a challenge. And what we do is take advantage of those challenges. We just find ways to work within them and it permeates into the movie that everything you're feeling in this movie is in part and formed by the fact that we're shooting it during the pandemic."

Hayley Atwell's Grace

Hayley Atwell, known for her role as Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe appears as new character Grace, who becomes embroiled in Ethan Hunt's mission.

A woman and a man stand in front of a bar. She looks to the left while he looks straight ahead.

Hayley Atwell and Esai Morales in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. ( Supplied: Paramount Pictures )

Atwell says it was important for her to elevate Grace so that the character wasn't a stereotype or one-dimensional.

"So there were moments when, because a lot of it was ad libbed, I made choices where she would be full of self assurance, then she'd be, you know, overwhelmed by self doubt — so what you have is a kind of character that's consistently inconsistent," Atwell said in an interview.

"The choices she makes change the trajectory of the story, at several times in the film. Therefore, she's not just reactive to what the men are doing or what Tom [Cruise] is doing. She very much has her own agency in this."

Tom Cruise and Hayley Outwell stand next to each other with their hands joined together by handcuffs.

Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning — Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. ( Christian Black )

The film has been described as a farewell to Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt, but McQuarrie says that might not necessarily be the case.

"Even if I set out to end the franchise, I couldn't be sure that that's how it would end. These movies are changing all the time," McQuarrie says, adding that he would love to find a way to include Sydney as a location for Dead Reckoning Part Two.

Cruise along with Atwell, Pegg, Klementieff and McQuarrie will walk the red carpet at the film's Sydney premiere tonight.

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning releases in Australian cinemas July 8.

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Tom Cruise performed his most dangerous stunt yet — riding a motorcycle off a cliff and BASE jumping

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Tom Cruise took part in the most dangerous stunt of his career so far amid filming of the next Mission: Impossible film.

The actor, 60, is renowned for performing his own stunts – not an easy feat considering the intense, action-packed franchises he is a part of.

Following the massive success of Top Gun : Maverick this year, Tom is now working on the next instalment of the Impossible series, titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

And, as always, he’s doing his own stunt – this one his most dangerous yet.

The action star posted on social media this week telling fans he was ‘so excited to share what we’ve been working on,’ along with a video giving a behind-the-scenes of the breathtaking stunt.

It sees Tom perform a massive motorcycle jump off of a steep cliff, followed by a terrifying free-fall before opening his parachute at the last minute.

Speaking about the stunt in the video, an excited Tom admits: ‘I’ve wanted to do it since I was a little kid.’

He explains:: ‘This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted…. we’ve been working on this for years.’

Tom trained for the stunt for over a year, performing 13,000 motorcycle crosses and 500 skydivers to prepare for the moment.

The new video comes after Tom sent a message to fans last week while jumping out of an airplane, because of course he did.

In a videotaped message from the Dead Reckoning set, Tom thanked fans for a remarkable year after Maverick’s massive box office success.

Speaking to the camera while half outside the plane, wind in his hair: ‘Hey everyone. Here we are over stunning South Africa, where we’re filming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning parts one and two. And I didn’t want the year to end without thanking you all for coming out to the theatres and thank you for supporting Top Gun: Maverick.’

He was then interrupted by director Christopher McQuarrie, who stated they had to ‘get the shot’ – at which point Tom casually jumps from the plane.

Continuing his message while in freefall, Tom went on: ‘‘Where was I? Oh yeah. Thank you for supporting Top Gun: Maverick and thank you for allowing us to entertain you.

‘It truly is the honor of a lifetime.’

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Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise on set of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Think it's worth starting this article off with a friendly reminder that Tom Cruise is 60 years old. An age where most people are considering retirement, Cruise continues to go further and further with hair-raising stunts, including one for the 2023 new movie Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One that is being described as the "biggest stunt in cinema history" and the most dangerous stunt of his career.

A new behind-the-scenes video offers a lot of fascinating (and insane) details about the stunt, which sees Cruise ride a motorcycle off of a cliff in Norway and then perform a base jump. We don't know the context of it in the movie, but it certainly looks to be on par with previous Tom Cruise stunts from the Mission: Impossible franchise, including the famous wire-hanging scene, him climbing the Burj Khalifa, holding on to the side of plane and performing a HALO jump.

There's a lot of incredible footage and soundbites in the video. We've got a quick rundown of some of the ones that made our jaws drop.

Tom Cruise wanted to drive a motorcycle off a cliff since he was a little kid apparently; this man is just wired differently.
The stunt team's mantra is "don't be careful, be confident."
Cruise did a year of base training, advanced skydive training and canopy skills (over 500 skydives).
Someone describes Tom Cruise as "the most aware person I've ever met."
They built a motocross track for Cruise to train on and he practiced more than 13,000 jumps.
Director Christpher McQuarrie said even two years ago the cameras didn't exist to capture the stunt like they did.
Tom Cruise: "Always wear my earplugs, so I don't hear myself scream."
There was no speedometer on the bike, so Cruise said he judged the speed by the sound and feel of the bike.
Miles Dashier, base jumping coach: "The only things you have to avoid while doing a stunt like this are serious injury or death." You don't say!
After the first take, Cruise was eager to do another one. He did the stunt six times in total.

The video was shown in front of Avatar: The Way of Water on IMAX screens, but now it is available to watch on YouTube or directly below.

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One is set to release exclusively in movie theaters on July 14, 2023. In addition to Cruise, Mission: Impossible regulars Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson are all back, as are Vanessa Kirby and Angela Bassett from Fallout, and Henry Czerny from the original Mission: Impossible . New additions to the franchise include Haley Atwell, Cary Elwes, Pom Klementiff, Rob Delany, Indira Varma, Charles Parnell, Shea Whigham and Mark Gatiss.

If you want to get your Cruise fill in before the new Mission: Impossible movie, Top Gun: Maverick arrives on Paramount Plus on December 22 (he even wished everyone a thank you for supporting Top Gun: Maverick while jumping out of a plane ), while the other Mission: Impossible movies are also all streaming on Paramount Plus .

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Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca , Moulin Rouge! , Silence of the Lambs , Children of Men , One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars . On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd .

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The Nine Wildest Mission: Impossible Stunts, Ranked By the Danger They Posed to Tom Cruise

Over the last 27 years, the Mission: Impossible franchise has continued to establish itself from other movies in the spy genre by being synonymous with two things: Tom Cruise and insane stunts. With the subsequent release of each Ethan Hunt adventure comes another behind-the-scenes featurette about how far out there—read: how close to actual death—Cruise went to entertain and enthrall the audience, whether it’s learning how to hold his breath underwater for six minutes, or scaling the exterior of the world’s largest building.

With the release of the seventh installment in the series, Dead Reckoning Part One , Hunt states to a character that their life “will always be more important to me than my own,” which feels like a declaration of Cruise’s guiding philosophy for stunt work. To wit: Matt Damon recently recalled a conversation he had with Cruise about a stunt in Ghost Protocol —which started with Cruise deadpanning that he fired the film's first safety coordinator who deemed the stunt too dangerous.

Cruise fulfills his mission statement in the latest film by driving a motorcycle off a cliff and then parachuting down a ravine—establishing a new landmark in Hollywood stunt work. As the franchise reaches this new height, we’re looking at some of the most dangerous stunts from the Mission series and ranking by degree of danger, from least to most.

Danger Level: Mild

An exploding fish tank feels like small potatoes in the larger scope of the Mission series, but Cruise has said the stunt was indeed “very crazy.” Talking to Graham Norton in 2018, Cruise recalled that he and the stunt coordinator couldn’t get on the same page about the timing of the explosion, resulting in a Who’s On First -like back and forth about whether the go was on the count of three or the count of one. Considering the sequence involved a detonation, glass, and plenty of water, the potential for danger was high, but hardly life-threatening. miscommunication is enough for someone to get seriously injured if it wasn’t timed correctly.

Danger Level: Unnecessarily High

Cruise’s wholehearted approach to dangerous stunt work began in earnest with John Woo’s Mission: Impossible 2 . The actor put Alex Honnold to shame with an extensive free solo climbing stunt in the film’s opening . "I was really mad that he wanted to do it, but I tried to stop him and I couldn't," Woo told Entertainment Weekly back in 2000 . "I was so scared I was sweating. I couldn't even watch the monitor when we shot it." Woo’s nervousness stemmed from the fact Cruise was insistent on not only doing the climb himself but only wearing a thin safety wire through the staggering seven different takes it took to get the shot as he climbed over the constructed cliff face. His dedication comes through in the final product and is easily the highlight of an otherwise lackluster installment in the franchise ( despite my editor’s attempts to convince me otherwise ).

Danger Level: Probable Death

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After Ghost Protocol —more on that later—the Mission franchise shifted into featuring a signature, outrageous stunt for each of its installments. For his first Mission , Christopher McQuarrie conjured up the idea of Cruise strapped to an A400 cargo plane—an image so memorable it became the central focus of the movie’s marketing. McQuarrie recently stated the fear around A400 stunt wasn’t so much about Cruise falling off (he was strapped into the door through a rigged vest) but external factors beyond their control, like a rock on the runway or a bird strike while the plane was taking off. With so little protection, the timing had to be perfect.

Danger Level: Technically Low, made higher by insane repetitions

While still extremely dangerous, the challenges around the HALO (high altitude, low opening) jump in Fallout were mostly logistical. McQuarrie and crew had to create a new style helmet for the sequence that not only provided oxygen for Cruise (who is the first ever actor to perform the jump typically reserved for military operations) but also had lighting in the interior so audiences could see his face. The timing of the natural lighting made it so the jump could only occur in a three-minute window, so the jump required over 100 attempts to get it right. The real risk came from ensuring Henry Cavill, Cruise, and the cameraman all hit their marks so they wouldn’t collide in midair while falling at 200 miles per hour. In any other movie, this would be the showstopper. And yet, in Fallout , it’s just the aperitif.

Danger Level: Navy Seal levels of difficulty

Much of the pre-release marketing of Mission films in the last decade typically includes Cruise discussing his training to execute on a stunt accordingly. Rogue Nation leaned into the fact he learned how to hold his breath underwater for a staggering six minutes to shoot the underwater vault heist sequence as practically as possible—and all in one long take despite the fact the finished sequence is intertwined with multiple cuts. Legend has it that safety and compliance teams on set were extraordinarily nervous about the whole thing, and it wasn’t until Cruise convinced them otherwise that it was safe and that he could handle it accordingly.

Danger Level: Low, but it’s always the one you least expect

For all the dangerous stunts in Mission movies, it’s odd that something as simple as a broken ankle is the only major injury to befall Cruise. While jumping from one building to another, Cruise sustained that injury and knew immediately he’d messed something up, as the take in which he broke it is the one McQuarrie used in the final cut. Filming on Fallout was subsequently delayed while he recovered, but Cruise seemed to take it in stride; a behind-the-scenes clip shows him shrugging it off like he forgot to grab something at the grocery store.

Danger Level: Extremely High

There are approximately three different “holy shit” moments throughout Fallout ’s third-act helicopter setpiece: Cruise jumping onto the rope as the helicopter takes off, free-falling off the helicopter, and then piloting the chopper himself while performing a 365-degree corkscrew dive. The scariest bit of all included the drop—Rebecca Ferguson declared that she thought Cruise actually fell from the helicopter. If you remember, Cruise falls and hits the accompanying load dangling at the bottom so hard that it knocks the wind out of him each of the several times he performed it. Not to mention, the corkscrew dive was so dangerous that “most pilots wouldn’t attempt it,” per stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood .

Danger Level: Technically Very High…(but less blatantly flirtatious with death than the movies that followed?)

In other movies, a stunt involving scaling the side of the Burj Khalifa would have taken place on a set with a replica or with CGI. Not in the world of Mission . For Ghost Protocol , Cruise climbed the world’s tallest building with only a single safety rope. A single misstep and everything could go south very quickly. The stunt set the tone for everything else that’s followed, as dedicating himself to the reality of it all makes it one of the defining stunts of the Mission franchise.

Danger Level: Trolling death at this point

In comedy, there’s the concept of putting “a hat on a hat,” which means that layering one joke on top of another different joke leads to the whole thing falling flat. In less-skilled hands, the now legendary cliff bike jump in Dead Reckoning could feel like a hat on a hat. It combines elements of previous Mission stunts, notably the HALO jump and the Paris bike chase from Fallout , but it’s accomplished and shot in such a way that it feels breathtaking at every single stage. The fact that Cruise performed the stunt several different times, despite its high risk, is stunt work at its very best.

Mission: Impossible: Tom Cruise's Best Stunts in the Franchise, Ranked

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Mission: Impossible is a long-running action spy franchise revolving around Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt as he takes on threat after threat and conquers the impossible. Based on the TV series of the same name created by Bruce Geller, the film franchise began in 1996 and has spawned a total of six films, with two more on the way. While the franchise is known for its ensemble cast, the one staple character to appear in every Mission: Impossible film is Ethan Hunt, portrayed by Tom Cruise .

Update July 2, 2023: This article has been updated with even more great Mission: Impossible stunts in honor of the upcoming release of Misson: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.

Part of what makes the Mission: Impossible movies so fantastic is Cruise's insistence on performing many of his own stunts. From Mission: Impossible to Top Gun , Cruise has been at the helm, performing a number of crazy stunts that many actors would not dare go near. While many of Cruise's action films feature him performing stunts of varying degrees, his stunts in the Mission: Impossible franchise are the most daring. These are Tom Cruise’s best Mission: Impossible stunts in the franchise, ranked.

10 Exploding Aquarium — Mission: Impossible

Although the first entry in this franchise is best known for its iconic shot of Tom Cruise suspended above the entrance of an alarmed vault, Mission Impossible probably has the least stunts of any in the series. However, Cruise was happy to get physical when requested, including one scene in which Ethan Hunt attempts to escape his enemies in Prague by exploding a restaurant aquarium. According to Parade , director Brian De Palma initially used a stuntman, but he didn't like how the scene looked. Despite a risk of being injured by flying glass or drowning in 16 tons of rushing water, Cruise agreed to do the scene himself.

Related: These Action Movie Stars Do Their Own Stunts (And Some Who Refuse To)

9 Knife on the Eye — Mission: Impossible 2

Arguably the most iconic stunt in the whole of the Mission: Impossible franchise is the knife on the eye seen in Mission: Impossible 2 . While this stunt could have easily been faked with CGI, the choice to do it for real was a gutsy one that definitely paid off. During the knife fight between Cruise and his co-star Dougray Scott, the knife is lowered through the use of a measuring cable until the sharp point was only a quarter inch away from Cruise's naked eye. Despite the fact that the overall size of this stunt is rather small compared to many others, that a single flinch or mistake while the stunt was done could have cost Cruise his eye is part of what makes this stunt so amazing.

8 The Shanghai Skyscraper Basejump — Mission: Impossible III

One thing is for certain. Ethan Hunt likes to take big leaps of faith, and his biggest was arguably featured in 2006's Mission: Impossible III. To rescue his kidnapped wife, Ethan and his team need to retrieve an item from the 56th floor of a building. As one does, the MI crew decides the best solution is for Ethan to jump from one building to another and slide down the glass windows until he reaches the floor he needs.

Director J.J. Abrams employed a green screen and stage rather than risk his star jumping from a real skyscraper. However, production notes from the movie reveal Cruise did a 50-foot free fall from a crane to enhance the scene. "Tom drops, stopping 18 inches above the concrete, and I found myself talking to someone else between takes," Abrams added. "I realized I had become complacent about having Tom Cruise — who was entirely my responsibility — dangling from a crane, dropping at breakneck speed, stopping just above the ground. I remember thinking: 'I have to get back to being terrified.'"

7 Speed Flying — Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

A behind-the-scenes video from Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One proves Tom Cruise isn't slowing down on death-defying stunts for the Mission: Impossible franchise anytime soon. The MI crew filmed Cruise speed flying through mountains in the United Kingdom, explaining that speed flying is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Similar to paragliding, speed flying employs smaller wings and faster speed, making it more unpredictable. The movie's scene required Cruise to dodge numerous rocky surfaces as he flew close to the ground and toward the camera. As director Christopher McQuarrie says, "Filming next to rocks looks quite beautiful. Behind the scenes, we were in absolute terror." The film isn't even out yet but just the footage in the trailer alone lands it on this spot.

6 Riding a Motorcycle Off a Cliff — Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Tom Cruise was 60 when he performed what he calls one of the most dangerous stunts yet in the Mission: Impossible series' history — riding a motorcycle off a cliff and base jumping to the bottom. A behind-the-scenes video from Dead Reckoning Part One begins with ominous music and director Christopher McQuarrie's voice saying, "This is far and away the most dangerous thing we've ever attempted." Shot in Norway, the scene sees Ethan Hunt driving a motorcycle off a cliff, falling, and launching into a base jump. BASE jumping coach John DeVore calls it "pretty much the biggest stunt in cinematic history."

Related: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One: Everything We Know So Far

5 Helicopter Chase — Mission: Impossible - Fallout

When Ethan Hunt takes control of a helicopter in Mission: Impossible - Fallout , he goes on a high-speed helicopter chase, navigating the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Despite Cruise's experience, this is possibly one of the most dangerous stunts Cruise has ever performed, considering that he had to maintain a great level of focus in order to fly with precision and speed, all while remaining in character for the film. While this is not Cruise's first airborne stunt, it is, without a doubt, his most daring one in the air. Per Variety , the shots of the chase were long takes and, in classic Mission: Impossible style, it was filmed without any special effects in sight.

4 Deep Dive — Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

In Rogue Nation , Tom Cruise performed an underwater stunt. During this, Cruise held his breath for a total of six and a half minutes. Experts were brought in to help Cruise train him to be able to slow down his heart rate so that he would require less oxygen. As epic as this stunt is, Cruise admitted that this did not come without its discomforts as the training had conditioned him to breathe far less. When he was still and not performing any physical activity, Cruise would have to actively remind himself to breathe. This stunt ranks fifth on the list because, despite how tame it may seem on-screen, it's pretty hardcore to train yourself to hold your breath for over six minutes.

3 HALO Jump — Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Fallout was full of stunts that put Cruise's life at risk, including one that actually caused him to break his ankle during filming. Aside from that injury, Cruise became the first actor in history to film a HALO (High Altitude, Low Open) skydive, which is a high-risk military maneuver. A behind-the-scenes video explains nearly a year of preparation went into the stunt, which required the crew to specially design a helmet that would not only allow Cruise to breathe at 25,000 feet but also show his face. The actor also had to prepare by inhaling pure oxygen for 20 minutes straight to avoid decompression sickness. Then, he jumped out of a C-17 plane for the memorable free fall.

2 The Burj Khalifa Climb — Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

What better to add to this stunt-heavy franchise than the tallest building in the world, referred to as the Burj Khalifa. Despite the fact that this extremely dangerous stunt could have been pulled off using CGI, the choice to perform the stunt for real is certainly a risk. Of course, this stunt certainly paid off, and despite Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 's challenging shoot, they managed to capture Cruise scaling, running along the side of and smashing through a window of the Burj.

This stunt was particularly challenging, considering that Cruise had no physical assistance and merely had consultations with dozens of stuntmen and professionals before performing one of his greatest stunts of all time. He even sat at the top of the building without any harnesses or wire for a photo to commemorate the moment.

1 Hanging From a Plane — Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Topping the list is Cruise's stunt in Rogue Nation, where he hung from the outside of an airbus while it was in flight. While Cruise was strapped onto the plane, the plane was flown for a total of 48 hours and landed eight times before they managed to snag the perfect shot. According to Cruise, a pebble even hit him in the ribs, and at the speed, the plane was going, that tiny pebble could have shattered a rib. If something had gone wrong during this scene, Cruise would not have been able to get inside the plane until after it had landed. This shows Cruise's pure dedication to giving an authentic, entertaining experience for the audience, keeping them on the edge of their seats.

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Tom Cruise’s most dangerous stunts from helicopter crash that broke his ribs to riding a motorbike over a cliff

Henna Sharma , TV Journalist
Published : 18:19 ET, Aug 17 2024
Updated : 11:39 ET, Aug 18 2024
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WE take a look at Tom Cruise's most dangerous stunts, after he closed the 2024 Olympics with a jaw-dropping Mission Impossible-style stunt.

The 62-year-old actor, who is infamous for doing all his own stunts, left viewers and sports stars gobsmacked as he slid down a rope from the roof of the Stade de France and landed on the pitch.

Tom abseiled off the roof of the Stade de France in Paris as part of the handover during the Olympics closing ceremony

Tom has done over 30 jumps per day and over 500 skydives in total, but what are his most daring, wildest, and death-defying stunts?

How many times has he put his life on the line for the love of the Mission: Impossible franchise and cinema itself?

We have a look at four of the most dangerous stunts leaving him with broken ribs.

Paris Olympics stadium abseil

He descended the massive distance between the stadium roof and the athletics track

As Paris handed the baton to Los Angeles, Tom seemed completely unfazed despite the 115-foot-high drop as he was greeted by the elated athletes.

Tom Cruise pulls off spectacular stunt to close Paris Olympics

Olympics 2024 closing ceremony brings end to incredible Paris Games

The Hollywood star then hopped onto a motorcycle to take the Olympic flag on a joyride out of the stadium.

A pre-recorded video then showed Tom riding past classic Parisian landmarks like the Eiffel Tower before arriving at an airport.

After boarding the aircraft, the Top Gun actor could be seen skydiving out of the plane and later landing in Los Angeles.

The iconic movie star then trekked the flag up to the famous Hollywood sign before he passed it on to US cyclist Kate Courtney.

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Breaking his ribs in mission: impossible ii.

Tom cracked two ribs filming Mission: Impossible III

One of the most memorable scenes in Mission: Impossible 3 is the bridge attack.

In the scene, the fighter jets bomb the Chesapeake Bay Bridge while Tom's character Ethan Hunt is caught in the chaos.

A shot used in almost every trailer for the film shows Tom being thrown into the side of a car on the bridge, with cars exploding behind him.

While trying to nail that shot, Tom got injured again, breaking two ribs when he was launched into the car during the explosion stunt.

Luckily, it’s all been worth it, with Mission: Impossible becoming one of the biggest film franchises ever.

Death-defying HALO jump

A HALO jump, short for High Altitude, Low Opening, involves skydivers leaping from a higher altitude than usual and delaying the opening of their parachute until they are much closer to the ground.

And Tom performed his own HALO jump stunt… with a broken ankle.

He had already fractured it while filming the most highly praised entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Yet he still boarded that plane, ascended to 25,000 feet, and made the jump.

Tom told Wired that he doesn’t mind doing these dangerous stunts: "I’ve always done outrageous physical stunts, even as a kid. My mother had incredible patience."

Mission: Impossible – Fallout – the broken ankle

While filming Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Tom, as Ethan Hunt, had to jump across several high-rise buildings while chasing Henry Cavill’s villainous character, August Walker.

However during one take, while sprinting at full speed from one building to another, Tom slammed into a wall and broke his ankle.

But even with a broken ankle, Tom kept filming, and the movie went on to become the most critically acclaimed Mission: Impossible film to date.

Reflecting on the incident later, Tom said, “I knew instantly my ankle was broken, and I really didn’t want to do it again, so I just got up and carried on with the take.

"I said, ‘It’s broken. That’s a wrap. Take me to the hospital,’ and then everyone got on the phone and made their vacation arrangements.”

Tom pushes the limits of what his body is capable of that not every stunt can go 100% to plan

Tom is showing no signs of slowing down as he Tom told The Sydney Morning Herald : "I hope to keep making Mission Impossible films until I’m [Harrison Ford’s] age."

As of 2024, Tom Cruise is the sixth highest-grossing actor of all time, with his films, including Top Gun: Maverick and the Mission: Impossible franchise, totaling a whopping $12,091,844,410.

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Ashley Tisdale welcomes her second child & reveals baby's sweet name

In GBP, that’s £9,468,700,142, and puts him ahead of the likes of Vin Diesel, Chris Hemsworth, and Bradley Cooper. On average, his movies have grossed over $250million (£195million) each.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Tom has amassed a fortune of over $600m (£470m), meaning that he’s one of the richest actors in Hollywood.

He has done over 30 jumps per day and over 500 skydives

Paris Olympics 2024
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12 of tom cruise’s most jaw-dropping stunts.

From scaling a skyscraper to hanging on to the outside of an airplane as it takes off, here are some of the actor's most death-defying stunts.

By Carly Thomas

Carly Thomas

Associate Editor

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Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

Tom Cruise has never steered away from challenging himself in his roles for projects. Especially since 1986’s Top Gun , he has continued to push the limits of his body and acting, taking on his own stunts in most of his top films, including Mission: Impossible , The Last Samurai and Jack Reacher .

Most recently, Cruise took on several death-defying stunts in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , including speed-flying down a mountainside as well as driving a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuting to safety.

The actor has previously said during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show that he has been “doing different stunts” since he was a child and that once he got into acting, he wanted to keep doing it to help with the “storytelling.”

“I feel that [when] acting you’re bringing everything, you know, physically and emotionally, to a character in a story,” he explained at the time. “And I’m able to do it [stunts], and I’ve trained for 30 years doing things like this that it allows us to put cameras in places where you normally are not able to.”

More recently, during a conversation at Cannes in 2022, Cruise reiterated that he enjoys performing his own stunts despite the danger, only this time he referenced one of the best athletes of Hollywood’s golden era.

“No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance?’” the actor said. “Why do you do your own dancing?’”

Below, The Hollywood Reporter has compiled a list of some of Cruise’s wildest stunts, some downright death-defying, throughout his decades-long career.

'Mission: Impossible' (Aquarium Scene)

In the first installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise in 1996, Cruise reportedly never swapped out for a stuntman in one particular scene involving an aquarium. In the sequence, Ethan Hunt, who would become one of Cruise’s most well-known characters, intentionally blows up a giant aquarium that stretches the length from the floor to the ceiling to help get away quickly. The explosive was so powerful that another person was sent flying through a glass panel, while Cruise went running with 16 gallons of water following right behind him.

'Mission: Impossible II' (Rock Climbing Scene)

In 2000’s Mission: Impossible II , Cruise showed no signs of plans to stop testing his limits. In the opening scene of the John Woo-directed film, the actor can be seen climbing and hanging off giant rocks on the side of a cliff. During filming, Cruise reportedly had only a safety cable to help soften any impact, which led to Woo actively sweating throughout the entire sequence because of how dangerous it was.

'Top Gun' (Parachute Scene)

In 1986’s Top Gun , Cruise began seeking the thrill of doing his own stunts. But the scene when Maverick (Cruise) and Goose (Anthony Edwards) are ejected from the jet and parachute into the water (leading to his co-pilot’s death) nearly didn’t go as planned. Top Gun ‘s Barry Tubb told the New York Post on the film’s 25th anniversary that “Cruise came as close to dying as anybody on a set I’ve ever seen.” During filming, when Cruise was lifting up Goose’s body from the ocean, Cruise actually began to sink due to water building up in his parachute. According to Tubb, Cruise would have drowned if it was not caught early enough to get him out.

At the time of filming Top Gun , it was also reported that a veteran fighter pilot died while shooting aerial footage for the movie.

'The Last Samurai' (Samurai Sword Scene)

In 2003’s The Last Samurai , Cruise once again nearly avoided a tragic accident while doing his own stunts. While filming a fight sequence between Nathan Algren (Cruise) and Ujio (Hiroyuki Sanada), the two were riding on what were actually mechanical horses, in which one was supposed to stop moving before Sanada takes a swing at Cruise with a real samurai sword. But the horse didn’t stop, and Cruise reportedly came within an inch of the sword before Sanada was able to pull back, avoiding contact with Cruise.

“Tom’s neck was right in front of me, and I tried to stop swinging my sword, but it was hard to control with one hand,” Sanada previously told the Daily Mail . “The film crew watching from the side all screamed because they thought Tom’s head would fly off.”

'Collateral' (Car Crash Scene)

At this point, on-set accidents are nothing new to Cruise, and the same goes for an incident while filming an action scene with Jamie Foxx for 2004’s Collateral . During an interview at the time , Foxx thought he nearly killed his co-star when he smashed into Cruise’s Mercedes-Benz during a chase sequence. “I hit the gas, the cab goes straight head on into [Cruise’s] Mercedes, and the Mercedes lifts off the ground and goes off the set,” he explained. Cruise added that although he was OK, he was tossed around the car. “I was hitting the roof,” he said. “I was down on the ground.”

'Edge of Tomorrow' (Another Car Crash Scene)

While filming 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow , Emily Blunt confirmed to Conan O’Brien on Conan at the time that Cruise “really does everything and wants to do everything” when it comes to doing stunts. But she revealed that during one scene, his luck was tested once again. The actress said in one action sequence when she was driving and Cruise was in the passenger seat, the stunt coordinator tasked her with driving really fast down a road and then taking a sharp turn. She noted that the first take went well, but during the second, she took a turn too late and “drove us into a tree and I almost killed Tom Cruise.” Thankfully, Cruise was OK, and Blunt added that he was actually laughing afterward.

'Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol' (Scaling a Skyscraper Scene)

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird said watching Cruise take on death-defying stunts is “just another day at work” for the film’s crewmembers. Specifically for the 2011 movie, the actor scaled Dubai’s 163-floor Burj Khalifa. In behind-the-scenes footage, Cruise can be seen climbing, swinging and running up and down the building, with only a wire keeping him from falling.

'Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation' (Plane Scene)

In 2015’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation , Cruise decided to take his intense stunts to the sky. In the film, the actor can be seen dangling on the outside of an Airbus 400 as it takes off. Robert Elswit, director of photography, told The Hollywood Reporter at the time what went into making the stunt a reality while keeping Cruise safe.

“Tom was in a full body harness and he’s cabled and wired to the plane through [its] door. Inside the aircraft was an aluminum truss that was carefully bolted to the plane, which held the wires that went through the door, which held Tom,” the cinematographer said of the safety measures. “He was also wearing special contact lenses to protect his eyes. If anything hit him at those speeds, it could be really bad. They were very careful about cleaning the runway so there were no rocks. And we took off in certain weather conditions; there were no birds. And he’s sort of protected by the way the air moves over the wing.”

'Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation' (Underwater Breathing Scene)

In the Christopher McQuarrie-directed film, Cruise went from doing stunts in the sky to doing them underwater. For the said sequence in Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation , the actor actually had to undergo training to be able to hold his breath underwater for six minutes. For comparison, professional divers hold their breath for anywhere between four and seven minutes, according to the American Physiological Society , but even that can be very dangerous and could cause brain damage. Although Cruise scared crewmembers a few times by testing his limits underwater, in the end, he successfully completed the mission.

“It’s something I have always wanted to do,” Cruise said during an interview with USA Today at the time. “We’re underwater and we’re doing breath-holds of 6 to 6-1/2 minutes. So I was doing all my training with the other stuff (on-set). It was very taxing stuff.”

'Mission: Impossible – Fallout' (Building Jump Scene)

While filming a building jump scene in 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout , Cruise actually got hurt, which shut down production for six weeks while he recovered. During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show , the actor not only detailed exactly what went wrong but shared a video of the moment he broke his ankle during the stunt.

In the scene, while attached to two safety wires, Cruise’s character is meant to jump from one high-rise to another when chasing Henry Cavill’s character. Although he was meant to miss the landing and hit the side of the wall, his foot actually slipped and bent upwards on impact. The actor noted that he “knew instantly it was broken.” Cruise also revealed that his ankle was still healing while he was on the press tour for the film.

‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One’ (Speed-Flying Scene)

In the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise shows that he has no plans to stop doing death-defying stunts anytime soon. For Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One , the actor learned how to do what director Christopher McQuarrie called “one of the most dangerous sports in the world.” Speed-flying, which is similar to paragliding, combines elements of parachute swooping to allow people to fly at high speeds down mountainsides while maintaining close to the slope. And Cruise did just that for one of the scenes in the latest installment of the action franchise. McQuarrie even noted that when Cruise was “flying very close to rocks,” the filming crew was in “absolute terror” behind the cameras.

‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One’ (Motorbiking Off a Cliff Scene)

For Mission: Impossible 7 , Tom Cruise said he got to do a stunt that he had wanted to do “since I was a little kid.” And that stunt was riding a motorbike off a cliff and parachuting down to safety. Director Christopher McQuarrie explained that there were many elements needed to actually make it happen, as well as years of different types of training. Once Cruise felt like he was comfortable with each aspect of the stunt, that’s when the crew built the film’s final ramp on a cliff in Norway. A crewmember added that Cruise did a total of six takes of one of the “biggest stunts in cinema history.”

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Is Tom Cruise performing a stunt at the Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony?

The "mission impossible" star may be taking on his most high-profile feat yet — if rumors are true., by danielle abreu • published august 9, 2024 • updated on august 11, 2024 at 1:41 am.

From scaling a skyscraper to hanging on to the side of an airplane taking off, actor Tom Cruise is no stranger to death-defying stunts.

And the "Mission Impossible" star may be taking on his most high-profile feat yet — if rumors are true.

📺 Los Angeles news 24/7: Watch NBC4 free wherever you are

Back in March, Cruise was spotted with a film crew at the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, scaling the famous landmark, People reported at the time . He was also captured on video appearing to pass a flag to someone. A spokesperson for Cruise did not respond to the outlet's requests for comment on what the actor was filming.

In late April, he was also spotted on the streets of Paris riding a motorcycle at night, before official filming for his latest "Mission Impossible" movie began. At the time, he was spotted with a film crew and carrying a white flag near the Saint-Georges metro station, the Pont de Bir-Hakeim and around the Arc de Triomphe.

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Tom Cruise était à Paris cette nuit pour le tournage de Mission Impossible 8 🎬 pic.twitter.com/vHgBNXF34l — Cine Phil 🎬 (@cinephiloff) April 26, 2024

This week, French media reported that Cruise, who is currently in Europe filming “Mission: Impossible 8” and has been spotted in the stands at several Paris Olympic events, including artistic gymnastics, swimming and track & field, will perform a stunt at the Closing Ceremony, which is set to take place at the Stade de France. Part of his performance will include pre-taped scenes.

With the next Summer Games set to take place in Los Angeles in 2028, a Hollywood connection seems fitting for an Olympic handoff from Paris.

However, organizers in Paris are tight-lipped on confirming any names, only saying it will feature “world-famous performers” along with “acrobats, dancers and circus artists.”

"An original soundtrack, new interpretations, musical performances and the participation of world-renowned singers will complete the picture," Paris organizers said in a statement. "Part of the show will take place in the air, while the giant sets, costumes and spectacular lighting effects will take spectators on a journey through time, both past and future."

One performer that has been announced is H.E.R. The five-time Grammy winner is expected to sing the U.S. national anthem live at the Stade de France as part of the handover for the Los Angeles Summer Games.

We'll have to wait until Sunday, Aug. 11 to see who's-who among the star-studded celebrity spectacles. The Closing Ceremony will start at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT at the Stade de France.

Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead named Team USA flag bearers for Closing Ceremony

What is the last event of the 2024 Paris Olympics?

This article tagged under:.

Is Tom Cruise performing a stunt at the Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony?

The "mission impossible" star may be taking on his most high-profile feat yet — if rumors are true., by danielle abreu • published august 9, 2024 • updated on august 11, 2024 at 4:41 am.

From scaling a skyscraper to hanging on to the side of an airplane taking off, actor Tom Cruise is no stranger to death-defying stunts.

And the "Mission Impossible" star may be taking on his most high-profile feat yet — if rumors are true.

24/7 New York news stream: Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

Tom Cruise était à Paris cette nuit pour le tournage de Mission Impossible 8 🎬 pic.twitter.com/vHgBNXF34l — Cine Phil 🎬 (@cinephiloff) April 26, 2024

Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.

With the next Summer Games set to take place in Los Angeles in 2028, a Hollywood connection seems fitting for an Olympic handoff from Paris.

However, organizers in Paris are tight-lipped on confirming any names, only saying it will feature “world-famous performers” along with “acrobats, dancers and circus artists.”

We'll have to wait until Sunday, Aug. 11 to see who's-who among the star-studded celebrity spectacles. The Closing Ceremony will start at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT at the Stade de France.

Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead named Team USA flag bearers for Closing Ceremony

What is the last event of the 2024 Paris Olympics?

This article tagged under:.

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