Tom Cruise Did 13,000 Motorbike Jumps To Prepare For Mission Impossible

Actor Tom Cruise has developed a reputation for being one of the most daring and committed actors in Hollywood thanks to his willingness to perform dangerous stunts for the sake of a good close-up. Those stunts require preparation. Lots and lots, according to those present for the showing of Mission: Impossible 7 at CinemaCon this week.

Alongside footage of Mission: Impossible 7, Paramount showed a featurette depicting the movie's centerpiece stunt. In preparation for the stunt, Cruise did 500 skydives and 13,000 motorbike jumps, as well as base jump training. The stunt has the actor jumping his motorbike off of a cliff in Norway, and Cruise called it his most dangerous stunt yet.

"This is far and away the most dangerous thing I've attempted; we've been working on this for years," Cruise said in a pre-recorded video for the CinemaCon audience. "I wanted to do it since I was a little kid."

"The only thing that scares me more is what we've got planned for Mission [Impossible] 8," said Christopher McQuarrie, for whom Mission: Impossible 8 will be his fourth time directing Cruise as Ethan Hunt.

Mission: Impossible 7 is currently set to release on May 27, 2022 after multiple COVID-related delays. Ahead of that, find out everything we know about Mission Impossible 7 and 8, including previous teases about this stunt and others. Along with the danger of the Mission: Impossible films, Universal is spending $200 million to send Cruise into space with the help of SpaceX. Top Gun: Maverick, also starring Cruise, will hit theaters on November 19, 2021.