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He won't be going to outer space, but Tom Cruise is training to perform even more dangerous stunts in Mission: Impossible 7 and 8. The Mission: Impossible franchise is six films deep and going stronger than ever after twenty-four years, making it a true outlier among Hollywood properties. That's thanks in no small part to Cruise - who, after working alongside a different director on each of the first four Mission: Impossible movies, have found a steady collaborator in Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie.

Cruise, of course, is infamous for putting himself in increasingly life-threatening situations with every new Mission: Impossible sequel by performing his own stunts. His free solo climb in Moab during the prologue to 2000's Mission: Impossible 2 almost seems like child's play now, compared to his single-take skydive and helicopter piloting in 2018's Fallout. McQuarrie, who's back at the helm for Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 (which are releasing in 2021 and 2022), has been responsible for overseeing many of the actor's wildest stunts by this point. And according to the writer-director, he's already panicking over what Cruise has got planned next.

Speaking on the Empire Podcast , McQuarrie confirmed Cruise is "not going to space, nor does he need to go to space" in Mission: Impossible 7 and 8, even if that feels like the only place he can go to top his previous stunts. Rather, the writer-director said Cruise is currently preparing to perform a trio of stunts he says are even more dangerous - and terrifying - than his previous tricks.

“We’ve figured out three obscene things that he’s doing that I’m terrified of, that make the helicopter chase [in Fallout] look like tinker toys. [Cruise is] training and he calls me and describes what he’s doing and I laugh and I cheer, then I hang up and I puke into a bucket. He’s training quite intensely right now."

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Plot details are under-wraps for now, but it's expected Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 will pick up the threads left dangling by Fallout and, potentially, bring McQuarrie's overarching Mission: Impossible story (which began with 2015's Rogue Nation) to a close. Cruise will be 60 by the time Mission: Impossible 8 reaches theaters, so it's unreasonable to assume he can continue to perform these death-defying stunts for that much longer, no matter how invulnerable he seems. If these next two sequels are meant to mark the end of Ethan Hunt's journey, then it would explain why Cruise is going even further with his stunt-work this time around. Then again, with actors like Liam Neeson and Sylvester Stallone still making action movies well into their 60s, who knows when Cruise will actually decide to call it a day.

That said, there are other signs pointing to Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 being the conclusion to Hunt's time with the IMF. The films are now confirmed to bring Henry Czerny's Kittridge back from the original Mission: Impossible, in addition to Fallout costar Vanessa Kirby as the White Widow, the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave's villain Max from the first movie. Their return could signal Hunt having to confront the ghosts of his past in the sequels, in order to save the world one last time. Failing that, it's safe to assume as long as Cruise keeps making these films, he will continue to give McQuarrie (or whoever's directing) a panic attack with his stunt-work.

Mission: Impossible 7 (2021)
Release Date: Jul 23, 2021

Mission: Impossible 8 (2022)
Release Date: Aug 05, 2022

He is a legend in Hollywood