Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two has some of Tom Cruise's most ambitious stunts yet, according to director Christopher McQuarrie. The filmmaker joined the Mission: Impossible franchise in 2011 to punch up Ghost Protocol with uncredited rewrites, and was brought back to helm both 2015's Rogue Nation and 2018's Fallout. The franchise's stalwart director is now returning for Mission: Impossible 7 & 8, which has been reported as Cruise's sendoff from the franchise, though McQuarrie has seemingly denied those reports.
Following the release of Dead Reckoning Part One on July 14, 2023, Cruise will return to lead the Dead Reckoning Part Two cast once again as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, alongside his frequent operatives: Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell; Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn; and Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. Franchise newcomers include Hayley Atwell as Grace and Esai Morales as a new villain. Dead Reckoning Part Two kicked off production earlier this year in March and multiple Mission: Impossible 8 set photos have shown Cruise performing various death-defying stunts, as usual.
During a recent appearance on the Light The Fuse podcast, McQuarrie teases some of Cruise's epic stunts from Dead Reckoning Part Two. The director says they are nearly finished filming the third-act action sequence for Part Two, which is "off the chain," as Cruise manages to top his own stunts "several times a day." Read McQuarrie's full comments below:
We have the bulk of the third act action sequence in the can for part 2. […] We already know what the third act of part 2 is, and it’s off the chain. It’s Tom topping Tom topping Tom, several times a day. […] That’s one of two really big, really ambitious sequences in the movie.
It would truly be a special sight to behold if Cruise manages to top his past Mission: Impossible stunts in Dead Reckoning Part Two, especially since it might be his final film in the franchise. The longtime Ethan Hunt actor has previously scaled the Burj Khalifa for Ghost Protocol and hung onto the side of a flying Airbus for Rogue Nation. Some of Cruise's most famous stunts from the franchise came in Fallout, including performing an actual HALO jump and flying a helicopter for an intense chase sequence. The Dead Reckoning Part One trailer revealed Cruise could top it by ramping off the side of a cliff on a dirt bike, which has been called Cruise's most dangerous stunt yet and one of the biggest in film history.
It remains to be seen how Cruise will manage to top himself yet again in Part Two. Mission: Impossible 8 set photos have revealed flashes of what's in store, including a paragliding stunt, though audiences likely haven't seen a glimpse of the ambitious third act action sequence McQuarrie is teasing. If Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two ends up being the franchise finale, audiences will be expecting something bigger and better than what's come before, and knowing Tom Cruise's fervent dedication, he will likely deliver.
Source: Light The Fuse
