Legendary actor Tom Cruise has truly elevated the "impossible" in the Mission: Impossible series, particularly with the eighth installment, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. In a revealing twist, Cruise shared that director Christopher McQuarrie proposed some genuinely impossible stunts for the film. To demonstrate the challenge, McQuarrie himself was put to the test.

During a recent press conference in Tokyo, Cruise recounted, "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.' 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, reflecting on the stunt that stumped Cruise, said, "It was the simplest thing. Anything you'd describe, [he'd] say, 'No, you actually can't do that.' And I don't hear 'can't' from him."

Cruise, who has performed numerous death-defying stunts throughout the Mission: Impossible series, relied on his extensive experience to convey the impossibility of the task. "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. He emphasized how a "20-minute tutorial" helped McQuarrie grasp the situation. "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."

McQuarrie found the experience exhilarating. "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 preparing for this stunt for years, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right aircraft for the scene.

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning is set to make its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival from May 13 to May 24, 2025, before thrilling audiences in theaters worldwide on May 23, 2025.