Mission: Impossible director feared Tom Cruise 'passed out' filming daring stunt
Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie has shared a terrifying moment when he feared Tom Cruise had passed out while filming a death-defying stunt on the wing of a plane.
And when you're 10,000 feet in the air, that isn't the type of situation you can easily recover from – or at all.
Before Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is even out, fans are already aware of this jaw-dropping stunt feat, as it's led the film's publicity drive, appearing in the trailer and on posters.
For the sequence where McQuarrie teased that there was indeed 'tension' in the movie as the plane malfunctions, he and Cruise had developed a series of hand signals so that the director could communicate with Cruise, 62, while hanging out the door of his helicopter.
'There was a moment – more than one moment – where Tom had pushed himself to the point that he was so physically exhausted he couldn't get back up off the wing,' he revealed during his Rendezvous event on Wednesday afternoon at Cannes Film Festival, attended by Metro.
'He was lying on the wing of the plane, his arms are hanging over the front of the wing. We could not tell if he was conscious or not,' he continued.
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'We also knew that unless Tom did this [gestures], it was expressly agreed he was not in trouble and we could not cut – you can't do this when you're unconscious, so we're waiting to see if there's any indication Tom is okay, and we're waiting to see this sign and Tom is laying on the wing of the plane.'
McQuarrie explained that the planes used only had 'a very light load of fuel' in order to have 'their full manoeuvrability' – and it was this which finally roused Cruise, with just three minutes of fuel left after 22 minutes of shooting in the wing.
It was previously discussed and agreed between Cruise and the team that he shouldn't go beyond 12 minutes at a time on the wing, due to the fatigue of being blasted by the wind.
'The wind is hitting you in excess of 140 miles an hour, coming off the propeller. The molecules in the air are so dispersed you're breathing, but only physically. You're not actually getting oxygen,' the writer and producer added.
He then, laughing, recalled that 'this was a typical day shooting in Africa' before warning that the plane 'can't land if Tom's on the wing', pressing on with the story with Hollywood star Cruise himself sat next to him, a surprise onstage guest for the event.
'We watched Tom as he pulled himself up and stuck his head in the cockpit so that he could replenish the oxygen in his body and then climb up into the cockpit and bring the plane safely down to land.
'No one on earth can do that,' he concluded -well, except Tom Cruise.
Top Gun: Maverick scribe McQuarrie also revealed the expert multitasking that went into Cruise filming inside the biplane and, more specifically, for a 'beautiful backlit shot' before the star turns back and the camera focuses on him.
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'I want you to remember there's no crew with Tom in an aeroplane at 10,000 feet above Africa. Tom is lighting the shot by how he's positioning the plane in its relationship to the sun, and he's operating focus just off camera,' McQuarrie said. More Trending
The Final Reckoning is billed as the last outing in the franchise, after eight movies and nearly 30 years – although Cruise refused to be drawn on whether or not this really was the end.
'Just let us show the movie today,' Cruise responded ahead of the film's special premiere at Cannes this evening.
'This is like, 30 years' culmination of this, and I'd rather just people see it and enjoy it. We've had an amazing time doing it, and it's going to be a lot of fun – enjoy this and know everything is the culmination, [and] has come to this moment.'
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