Tom Cruise Does the “Biggest Stunt in Cinema History” for Mission: Impossible 7

In a video of almost ten minutes, Tom Cruise revealed that he was "so excited to share what we've been working on." And that includes putting himself in harm’s way for the love of cinematography again.

The 60-year-old actor is one of the highest-paid actors in the world and his filmography proves why. Because Cruise’s work ethic has always included physical work and pushing himself to the limits.

Paramount Pictures just revealed that the upcoming movie will be called Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and will be divided into two films. One of them will show "the biggest stunt in cinema history."

“This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” Cruise says at the beginning of the behind-the-scenes clip, before explaining that they have been preparing for this for years. The scene includes riding off a cliff on a motorcycle and immediately turning it into a BASE jump.

The training took place on especially designed motocross tracks, so Tom Cruise could jump 70-80 ft (21-24 m) in the air and practice his stance and landing. One of the ramps was specifically built for the movie in the UK, while the other one was built in Norway. Of course, while Cruise's stunts were vital to the movie, so was how the audience perceived them. Therefore, the team worked tirelessly to offer the best camera views of what the actor was doing.

To finesse the trick, Cruise did over 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps in total. They filmed the scene on a cliff in Norway in 2020.

Dead Reckoning will bring back Tom Cruise as a special agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) Ethan Hunt. He will star alongside Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, and Frederick Schmidt, who will reprise their roles.

Newcomers Hayley Atwell, Cary Elwes, Rob Delaney, Pom Klementieff, Indira Varma, Shea Whigham, Mark Gatiss, Esai Morales, and Charles Parnell will also be a part of the cast of the upcoming film.

Veteran Christopher McQuarrie returns as director and writer. He was previously at the helm of the franchise’s fifth and sixth installments, Rogue Nation (2015) and Fallout (2018).

At the same time as showing off his death-defying skills, the actor posted another clip and used the opportunity to thank his fans for watching this year's Top Gun: Maverick while free-falling out of a plane over "stunning" South Africa during Mission: Impossible filming. Next to him in the plane, was director Christopher McQuarrie, who also co-wrote the script for Top Gun: Maverick.

This isn't the first death-defying scene Cruise has ever done. He is a stunt driver, expert climber, and previously became an expert helicopter pilot, learned how to hold his breath for six minutes for a scene in Rogue Nation, and also dangled on the side of a plane for the same movie. Let's not forget the scene in Fallout, where he jumped from one building to another, breaking his ankle in the process. However, he continued the scene like a pro, limping past the camera with a grimace.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is scheduled to hit theaters on July 14, 2023. But until then, you can check out below the insane amount of work and dedication the crew did for the film.