The stunt team behind Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning had to take matters into their own hands to stop Tom Cruise from continuing to attempt a death-defying stunt. The scene in question, which went by the moniker “Inferno Descent” during production, sees Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt jump from a biplane only to have his parachute dramatically catch fire and burn up during his fall. Director Christopher McQuarrie and Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood ended up hiding key equipment involved in the sequence to prevent Cruise from trying to complete the stunt more than was strictly necessary.
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“I didn’t tell him,” Eastwood said in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. “But I actually hid the last burning parachute because I didn’t want him to do it anymore.” The stunt coordinator’s move to limit the number of times that Cruise attempted the flaming parachute jump isn’t wholly surprising, given that the actor was setting his equipment on fire before actually jumping from an aircraft and free-falling to the landing zone. The dangerous sequence saw Cruise falling thousands of feet in just a few seconds, so Eastwood and McQuarrie had no desire to see the actor put into any extra danger.
The stunt not only comes at a pivotal point in the film, where IMF agent Hunt attempts to finally put a stop to the rogue AI known as The Entity, but has also previously made headlines as a record-setting experience. The Guinness World Records recognized The Final Reckoning stunt and Cruise for making 16 parachute jumps while on fire, allowing the film crew to capture every moment of the intense action sequence in perfect detail, creating a fitting adrenaline-packed finale for the franchise.
Tom Cruise’s Legacy of Mission: Impossible Stunts
Cruise is no stranger to thrilling and dangerous stunts. The actor has been dedicated and prolific when it comes to performing his stunts in the Mission: Impossible series. During his tenure as Hunt, he has trained rigorously to add a sense of authenticity and realism to the action sequences that have become synonymous with the brand. This includes climbing the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and hanging on the outside of a turboprop military transport aircraft in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.
The Final Reckoning is the eighth and likely final entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Carrying on directly from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, it has already proved to be a box office success and recently reached a worldwide total of $576,184,000. The movie passed the domestic gross of its predecessor more than two weeks ago and is still performing well despite playing on fewer screens each week as the summer movie schedule hits full swing.
Although Cruise is well known for performing many of his stunts in action films, that likely won’t be the case indefinitely. The actor is now well into his sixties, and while he shows no signs of slowing down just yet, he might have to let others do the more physical part of the job in the future.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is now playing in theaters.
What do you think of Tom Cruise’s desire to always push the boundaries when it comes to performing stunts? Let us know in the comments below!
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