Tom Cruise has said a new stunt in Mission: Impossible 7 is his riskiest yet.
"This is far and away the most dangerous thing I've attempted; we've been working on this for years," the actor said in a behind-the-scenes video revealed at CinemaCon (H/T Deadline).
The stunt sees Cruise race down a ramp that sends him off a cliff, and while airborne, he loses the bike and free-falls before his parachute opens. According to The Hollywood Reporter's Aaron Crouch, "Cruise trained for a year doing 500 skydives and 13,000 motorbike jumps. They captured this on day one of principal photography. Genuinely scary watching him do this."
"I wanted to do it since I was a little kid," Cruise said, adding: "I had to get so good at this so there's no way I miss my mark."
"My heart is racing at the thought of the stunt Tom Cruise is doing in #MissionImpossible7," wrote TheWrap's Beatrice Verhoeven. "13,000 motor cross jumps, one year of base jump training, lots of skydiving. He's driving off a ramp on a motorcycle, off a cliff, which will then turn into a base jump. #CinemaCon"
Cruise has garnered a reputation for performing his own incredible stunts, but none have ever been quite on this scale.
Footage from the movie was also unveiled at CinemaCon, which Screen Rant reports included a look at Henry Czerny as a gasmask-wearing Kittridge in his first appearance since 1996's Mission: Impossible. The clips also showed Cary Elwes in an office, and Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell on a train together. Atwell's character's clothes catch fire, which Cruise's Ethan attempts to put out. There's also a look at a shoot-out in a desert, and a glimpse of Esai Morales, apparently as the film's villain.
As for Mission: Impossible 8, expect that to be even bigger. "The only thing that scares me more is what we’ve got planned for Mission 8," director Christopher McQuarrie said.
Mission: Impossible 7 will release this May 27, 2022. Until then, check out our guide to all of 2021's upcoming movie release dates.
