Actor Tom Cruise’s fabled endurance may have met its match on the set of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” Stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood says the 62-year-old star was “so tired” during a wing-walking sequence over South Africa that crew members had to lift him off the biplane between takes, despite Cruise’s trademark grin and thumbs-up signals to director Christopher McQuarrie. “It beat the hell out of him … Many times we were carrying him off the wing because he was so tired,” Eastwood told The Times.
McQuarrie recounted the same flight at the Cannes Film Festival, admitting there was a moment when “we could not tell if he was conscious,” with only three minutes of fuel left and no way to land while Cruise lay prone on the wing. The actor finally dragged himself to the cockpit to gulp oxygen and finish the take.
Such revelations arrive just as the eighth “Mission” film lands in theatres with a reported budget near $400 million and a Memorial Day opening expected to top $78 million—strong for the franchise but still trailing Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch.” Cast mates are already debating whether “Final Reckoning” is truly Ethan Hunt’s last outing; Angela Bassett and Simon Pegg argue that Cruise’s appetite for “amazing adventure” leaves the door ajar.
Industry observers are divided. Box-office analyst Gitesh Pandya notes the marketing boon of Cruise’s practical stunts, yet warns that each escalation raises insurance costs and on-set hazards. Minnesota stunt trainer Tom Ringberg calls Cruise “a marvel of preparation,” but adds that most performers “age out of this level of risk long before 60.”
For his part, Cruise remains philosophical. Promoting the film on The Pat McAfee Show, he likened stunt work to an NFL quarterback’s two-minute drill: “rapid-fire choices, total trust in the team.” Whether that mind-set can outpace biology—and box-office math—will become clear as “Final Reckoning” hurtles through its theatrical run.