Tom Cruise Nearly Passes Out on Plane Wing During Daring Stunt for “Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning”
Tom Cruise’s legendary dedication to performing his own stunts nearly ended in disaster while filming Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning, the eighth and potentially final installment in the blockbuster franchise. During a daring sequence shot over Africa, the 62-year-old star alarmed his crew when he appeared to lose consciousness on the wing of a flying biplane.
Director Christopher McQuarrie revealed the terrifying details during a masterclass at the Cannes Film Festival, where Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning is making its premiere. Cruise, who flew the biplane solo, spent an astonishing 22 minutes outside the cockpit — well over the safety limit of 12 minutes. The extended exposure to harsh winds and thin oxygen levels pushed the action star to the brink.
“When you leave the cockpit of the plane, it’s like stepping onto the surface of another planet,” McQuarrie explained. “The wind hits you at more than 140 miles per hour, and while you may be breathing, you’re not really getting oxygen.”
According to McQuarrie, Cruise became so exhausted that he lay flat on the wing, arms draped over the edge, and didn’t respond to signals. The situation became even more dire when the team realized the plane had only six minutes of fuel remaining.
“We couldn’t tell if he was conscious. He had agreed to use a hand signal if he was in trouble, but at that point, he wasn’t moving,” said McQuarrie. Cruise, sitting next to the director during the discussion, acknowledged the moment with a sheepish nod.
Miraculously, Cruise managed to stir. He dragged himself into the cockpit, reoxygenated, and landed the plane safely. McQuarrie summed up the dramatic moment with awe: “No one on Earth can do that but Tom Cruise.”
Despite the terrifying incident, Cruise appeared unfazed. He attributed his ability to stay calm to decades of preparation and training. “Fear is just an emotion for me. I don’t find it paralyzing. I find it exciting. I don’t mind encountering the unknown,” he said.
The extreme stunt is just one of many jaw-dropping sequences in Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning, a $400 million action spectacle filled with death-defying moments. One particularly ambitious scene takes place in a sunk Russian nuclear submarine in the icy depths of the Bering Sea.
According to McQuarrie, the submarine scene was one of the most challenging and expensive to create. “We spent two and a half years building the set in London,” he said. The scene was shot inside a 60-foot-diameter, 1,000-ton, fully submersible steel gimbal housed in a tank containing 8.5 million liters of water.
“And what you’re watching in the film is the first time we tested it — with Tom inside,” McQuarrie said. “We couldn’t safely test it any other way. The prototype we made with a plastic figure broke instantly. So we did it for real with Tom.”
The film’s intense action and groundbreaking stunts have fans wondering if Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning truly marks the end of the road for Ethan Hunt. When asked, neither Cruise nor McQuarrie gave a straight answer. Cruise called it “the culmination of three decades of work,” further fueling speculation that this may be his final mission.
Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning is set for release this weekend in India, Australia, and South Korea. Audiences in Europe and the Middle East will have to wait until May 21, while North American fans can catch it in theaters starting May 23.
As always, Cruise’s unwavering commitment to authentic, high-stakes filmmaking has taken the Mission: Impossible series to another level. Whether Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning is the grand finale or not, it’s clear that Cruise is leaving everything — literally — on the wing.
