It goes without saying that legendary actor Tom Cruise has truly redefined "impossible" in the Mission: Impossible series. However, he undeniably raised the stakes for the franchise's eighth installment, Mission: Impossible— The Final Reckoning. In fact, Cruise revealed that director Christopher McQuarrie proposed some seemingly impossible stunts for the upcoming film. To illustrate the sheer difficulty, Cruise actually had McQuarrie attempt the maneuver himself.

"We discussed the story, and McQuarrie said, 'Okay, I need you to get from here to here in a few seconds,'" Cruise explained at a recent Tokyo press conference for the film. "I told him, 'I can't do that.' He replied, 'Alright, then I want you to do this and this.' I had to say, 'I really can't do that either.'"

"It was the simplest thing," McQuarrie added regarding the specific stunt that stumped Cruise. "No matter what I described, he'd say, 'No, you physically can't do that.' I'm not used to hearing 'can't' from him."

For Cruise, whose history with death-defying Mission: Impossible stunts is extensive, his experience was the ultimate guide. "I explained, 'Just considering the speed and the force of the air, moving quickly on the wing was... impossible,'" the actor insisted. He described how a "20-minute tutorial" helped McQuarrie grasp the reality. "You're constrained by the aircraft's speed and the brutal wind force. So I suggested, 'The best way is for you to try it. Get in the plane, go out on the wing, and feel it. Feel the pressure.' That's how I ended up training him."

As it turned out, McQuarrie thoroughly enjoyed the experience. "It was fantastic, actually," he said. "Yes, it was a lot of fun. I'd absolutely do it again." Cruise also noted during the conference that he had trained for this specific stunt for years, and that selecting the right aircraft was crucial to making it work.

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning will have its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, running from May 13 to May 24, 2025. Following that, the film will hit theaters worldwide on May 23, 2025.