New Mission: Impossible 7 footage screened at CinemaCon shows Tom Cruise's most dangerous stunt yet. Cruise made his first appearance as the IMF agent Ethan Hunt in 1996's Mission: Impossible. While the franchise has seen many successful installments, it didn't take off in a big way until 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout which stands as the highest-grossing film in Paramount's long-running franchise. Over the years, Cruise has garnered quite the reputation for pulling off increasingly bold and daring stunts, whether it's climbing the Burj Khalifa or hanging off the side of a flying plane.
Christopher McQuarrie, the writer/director behind the past two films in the franchise, Rogue Nation and Fallout, is returning to direct both M:I 7 and M:I 8. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed plenty of challenges during production (evidenced by Cruise's highly-publicized on-set rant) and caused Paramount to reshuffle the two film's release dates multiple times. Now, everything seems to be on track for M:I 7 to meet its May 2022 release date. The film will also Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby reprising their respective roles, along with newcomers Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Esai Morales, Rob Delaney, Indira Varma, Mark Gatiss, and Cary Elwes.
During Paramount's presentation at CinemaCon, the studio screened a new behind-the-scenes reel featuring footage and interviews with the cast of Mission: Impossible 7. The footage shows Cruise ramping off the side of a cliff on a dirtbike and then base jumping to a point below. He lets go of the bike mid-air and freefalls for about 6 seconds before pulling his parachute, though Cruise says he could hold the bike for a little longer. Cruise performed this particular stunt 6 times the day this reel was filmed. They called it the "most dangerous thing we've ever attempted" and the biggest stunt in film history.
The featurette also included some interviews with the cast and crew explaining how Cruise pulled off this improbable M:I 7 stunt. Cruise learned how to parachute properly and practiced dirt biking on a Motorcross track for an entire year before attempting the stunt during production in Norway. Director Christopher McQuarrie says the technology to film this stunt didn't even exist two years ago, as the cameras needed to be small enough to fit on the front of the bike.
Although studios don't generally reveal their presentations at CinemaCon to the public, there will likely be a BTS look at Cruise's most dangerous stunt in the future. This dirtbike stunt was already teased by Cruise in an interview earlier this year, which included a photo of him on the bike. Hopefully, the public is treated to a full look at this incredibly dangerous stunt before Mission: Impossible 7 releases in theaters on May 27, 2022.
Source: Paramount
