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Tom Cruise did that motorcycle stunt in ‘Mission: Impossible’ on Day 1 — here’s why

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More than half a year before the release of the upcoming movie “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,” Paramount Pictures made sure audiences got to see Tom Cruise once again risking his life.

Cruise’s mind-blowing stunts have become a signature of “ Mission: Impossible ” films, each one seemingly topping the next. The key stunt in the franchise’s seventh installment involves Cruise driving a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff, dismounting and parachuting into a Norwegian valley. With the drop of its behind-the-scenes footage in December , the studio billed it as “the biggest stunt in cinema history.”

Though the moment has already been watched on YouTube more than 13 million times, and 30 million more times in the film’s trailers, it’s among the film’s most anticipated scenes. After all, we still don’t know how the stunt fits within the plot — What could be so dire that agent Ethan Hunt must jump off a cliff?

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While answers won’t come until the movie’s theatrical release July 12, we now know that the risky stunt was the first thing Cruise did on Day 1 of filming, which began in 2020. And it was all about risk assessment.

In a recent interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” Cruise said they started with the scene, in part, to allow the cast and crew to see whether he would be able to star in the $290-million film. After all, he could either get injured or die — or both.

“Well, we know we’re either going to continue with the film or not,” Cruise said, letting out a laugh. “Let’s know Day 1, what is gonna happen: Do we all continue, or is it a major re-run?”

Cruise added that he wanted to make sure his mind was clear enough to focus solely on the stunt.

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“You have to be razor sharp for something like that; I don’t want to drop that and shoot other things and have my mind somewhere else,” Cruise said. “You don’t want to be waking up in the middle of the night, ‘It’s still, I still, I still,’ and it has that effect.”

Cruise is no stranger to aerial stunts with a high probability of death. The “Top Gun” actor said preparing for the recent stunt “was years of planning,” a culmination of all the training he’s done with motorcycles, cars and aerobatics.

In the franchise’s last film, “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” (2018), Cruise jumped into a helicopter in midflight , taking the controls to chase another helicopter. In the same movie, he parachuted from a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III from 25,000 feet, close to five miles up, becoming “the first actor” to do so in a major motion picture, according to Paramount (most skydiving attempts occur at 10,000 feet).

In 2011 for “ Ghost Protocol ,” the “Jerry McGuire” actor climbed along the exposed walls of the world’s largest building, the Burj Khalifa of Dubai. And in 2015 for “Rogue Nation,” Cruise hung off the side of an Airbus A400M Atlas as it was taking off, a stunt that veteran stunt coordinator and frequent Cruise collaborator Wade Eastwood called “a stressful experience.”

The recent motorcycle stunt, which Cruise had apparently repeated six times, was no exception. Though the film’s computer-generated images make Cruise appear to be jumping off the rocky surface of the cliff, the scene required a large ramp to be built.

While Cruise is seen atop the motorcycle in the behind-the-scenes video, accelerating off the ramp, a helicopter and drone fly overhead to gather footage. The film’s crew, including director Christopher McQuarrie, are huddled in a nearby tent, faces glued to a set of monitors. After he abandons the bike and hangs in the open air, Cruise releases his parachute and the crew erupts in cheers.

“The only thing you have to avoid when doing a stunt like this are serious injury or death,” Eastwood, who has managed stunts for the last three “Mission Impossible” films, said in the BTS video. “You’re falling. If you don’t get a clean exit from the bike and you get tangled up with it, if you don’t open your parachute, you’re not gonna make it.”

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The scene wasn’t the only stressful one to shoot: Cruise said he also worried about a car chase that involved him handcuffed to a small car, steering with one hand while drifting along the cobblestone streets of Rome, with his co-star Hayley Atwell in the passenger seat.

“It’s plenty of challenges,” Cruise said with a wide grin, laughing once again.

“Dead Reckoning” had its world premiere Sunday at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome with Cruise and other cast members, including Atwell and Vanessa Kirby , in attendance. “Part Two” is expected to be released in June 2024. Filming wrapped in September for what has been rumored to be Cruise’s final appearance in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

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Tom Cruise Shot ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Motorcycle Stunt on Day One So the Crew Would Know: ‘Do We Continue or Is It a Major Rewrite’ If I Fail?

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“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” director Christopher McQuarrie made headlines at the start of June after revealing to Empire magazine that Tom Cruise ‘s insane motorcycle stunt was shot on the first day of filming. The stunt, billed as the most death-defying one of Cruise’s acting career thus far, finds Cruise riding a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff and then parachuting to safety while in free fall.

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“Well we know either we will continue with the film or we’re not. Let’s know day one!” Cruise recently told Entertainment Tonight about filming the stunt at the very start of production. “Let us know day one what is going to happen: Do we all continue or is it a major rewrite?”

“I was training and I was ready,” Cruise added. “You have to be razor sharp when you’re doing something like that. It was very important as we were prepping the film that it was actually the first thing. I don’t want to drop that and go shoot other things and have my mind somewhere else. Everyone was prepped. Let’s just get it done.”

“Dead Reckoning” is expected to be one of the biggest Hollywood tentpoles of the summer movie season, if not the biggest. Cruise is riding high off the blockbuster success of “Top Gun: Maverick” last year, which ended its run as the 11th highest grossing film in history (unadjusted for inflation) with $1.49 billion. While “Dead Reckoning” may not reach those box office heights, it’s certainly expected to outgross 2017’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” ($791 million) and become the franchise’s new top earner.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” opens in theaters July 12 from Paramount Pictures.

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Tom Cruise just performed his most dangerous stunt yet – riding a motorcycle off a cliff and BASE jumping

By Caitlin O'Kane

December 21, 2022 / 10:00 AM EST / CBS News

Tom Cruise has performed another daring stunt for the "Mission: Impossible" film series. 

He called this one the most dangerous thing he's ever attempted. Shot in Norway, the stunt required Cruise to ride a motorcycle off a cliff and BASE jump — something he said he's wanted to do since he was a kid. 

Cruise, 60, is currently working on the two-part "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning" film. He's known for performing his own stunts, but this one took years to plan, he said in a video shared on Twitter. 

So excited to share what we’ve been working on. #MissionImpossible pic.twitter.com/rIyiLzQdMG — Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) December 19, 2022

In the video, writer and director Christopher McQuarrie said Cruise put together a "master plan" using experts to help execute the stunt.

He had a year of sky diving training, during which he was doing 30 jumps a day – more than 500 skydives, said Wade Eastwood, the film's stunt coordinator. He also had motocross training, doing over 13,000 motocross jumps. Once he got those skills down, the production team created 3D models to try and predict how Cruise would fly through the air during the stunt so they could film it.

Then, it came time for Cruise to execute the stunt — driving a motorcycle up a long ramp, which lead to a cliff, launching off of it and BASE jumping to the bottom. Cruise first jumped out of a helicopter over the cliff to practice, before attempting the full stunt for the cameras.

"The only things you have to avoid while doing a stunt like this are serious injury or death," BASE jumping coach Miles Daisher said. "You're riding a motorcycle, which is pretty dangerous, on top of a ramp that's elevated off the ground, so if you fall off the ramp, that's pretty bad. You're falling, so if you don't get a clean exit from the bike and you get tangled up with it, or if you don't open your parachute, you're not going to make it."

The behind-the-scenes video show Cruise not only execute the stunt once, but six times in one day. 

"Pretty much the biggest stunt in cinematic history," said BASE jumping coach John DeVore. Viewers can see the final product when part one of the film premieres July 2023. The "Mission: Impossible" series is from Paramount Pictures. (Paramount is also the parent company of CBS.)

Cruise has performed countless hair-raising stunts, including jumping off of scaffolding while filming "Mission: Impossible 6" in —  a stunt that left him injured and limping. 

Cruise has been in Europe filming the seventh and eight "Mission: Impossible" films for several years. The seventh movie was scheduled to premiere in November 2021, but the COVD-19 pandemic shut down production and was pushed to May 27, 2022,  according to Variety . The date was pushed several time after that, and the film will now premier next year. 

While shooting in the U.K. last year, Cruise, who was traveling by helicopter, needed a place to land,  BBC News reports.  He ended up landing in a family's backyard, and then let their kids go for a ride in the helicopter, making headlines.

Caitlin O'Kane is a New York City journalist who works on the CBS News social media team as a senior manager of content and production. She writes about a variety of topics and produces "The Uplift," CBS News' streaming show that focuses on good news.

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How Tom Cruise Executed His 'Most Dangerous' Stunt in 'Mission: Impossible –Dead Reckoning Part One'

The death-defying moment in the franchise's seventh installment involves Cruise driving a motorbike off a cliff

Collection Christophel/Alamy

Tom Cruise  turned up the action for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning   Part One .

While the film marks the seventh installment in the highly successful franchise, Cruise, 61, made the occasion even more special by challenging himself to perform one of his most dangerous stunts yet.

The death-defying moment involved Cruise driving a motorbike off a cliff, fly off the bike, and parachute to the ground. While fans got a glimpse of the stunt through the film's action-packed trailer in May, Cruise, along with writer-director  Christopher McQuarrie , first teased the big moment in 2021 at CinemaCon.

The pair explained in a special behind-the-scenes video at the event that the stunt took 500 hours of skydiving training and 13,000 motorbike jumps to get it just right. The stunt involved Cruise being attached to a set of wires as he rides a speeding motorcycle off of a large ramp before he throws himself from the bike, backed by the safety wires attached to his back.

Speaking about its execution, McQuarrie, 54, explained in the video that it was "by far the most dangerous stunt we've ever done." The clip then ended with Cruise performing the stunt himself, with a crew member saying, " Tom Cruise  rode a motorcycle off a cliff six times today."

McQuarrie "tried to kill me," joked Cruise at the New York City premiere.

Christian Black/Paramount Pictures

The film's long-awaited release comes after multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic . According to an official synopsis, it finds Cruise's Ethan Hunt as he and his team are tasked with tracking down "a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands."

During its world premiere in June , Cruise gave a speech about his passion for the franchise and filmmaking. He said in part, "It’s something that I grew up with, that made me and inspired me to dream and want to travel the world. My goal since I was little was to make movies and travel. And not just be a tourist but work in that world and understand their culture."

"Through my movies, I’ve been able to have that because everyone here has allowed me to entertain them," he continued. "It’s a privilege that I have never taken for granted."

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Mission: Impossible   - Dead Reckoning Part One is out now.

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Why Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Motorcycle Stunt Was Filmed Day One

Death, taxes, the physical laws of the universe, and Tom Cruise and his  Mission: Impossible  team topping whatever the craziest stunt in their previous film was with one even more death-defying—these are a few of the certain things in life. This is why, while it’s not surprising to hear that the most technically challenging and dangerous stunt Cruise and his team have attempted thus far is one they set up for Dead Reckoning Part One , the reasons behind them attempting the stunt on the very first day of filming are still quite chilling.

Co-writer and longtime  M:I  director Christopher McQuarrie told  Empire this past May that Cruise’s biggest stunt for the upcoming film— riding a motorcycle off a cliff and into a BASE jump —was done on day one to give the cast and crew “all the time in the world to understand why [Ethan] was doing what he’s doing.” McQuarrie added: “If we sat around and tried to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you’d never find it, simply because it’s such a living, breathing thing.”

Yet Cruise himself was even more straightforward and darkly practical when he described the decision to do the stunt on day one—because it could have gone horribly wrong. Instead of filming a large portion of the movie and then  losing Cruise to injury—or worse—Cruise and team figured that attempting to clear the hurdle right from the jump would have given them more flexibility going forward if it went awry.

  “Well, we know either we will continue with the film, or we’re not. Let’s know day one!” Cruise told Entertainment Tonight . “Let us know day one what is going to happen: Do we all continue, or is it a major rewrite? I was training, and I was ready. You have to be razor-sharp when you’re doing something like that. It was very important as we were prepping the film that it was actually the first thing. I don’t want to drop that and go shoot other things and have my mind somewhere else. Everyone was prepped. Let’s just get it done.”

Being razor-sharp for massively complex stunts is the core ingredient of the Cruise-led franchise. He scaled Dubai’s half-mile-high Burj Khalifa tower in 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.  Then in 2015’s Rogue Nation, Cruise topped that by hanging from the outside of an Airbus A400M Atlas airplane as it took off . There’s more. In 2018’s Fallout,  we spoke to stunt coordinator  Wade Eastwood about how he helped prepare Cruise for two wildly difficult sequences. One was his HALO jump (high-altitude low-open) from 25,000 feet. The second saw Cruise pilot his own helicopter in a dizzying, insanely daring chase scene for the movie’s climax.

The motorcycle-to-base-jump stunt tops all of those in complexity. It’ll be featured in the two-part  Dead Reckoning  story, which finds Ethan Hunt and his IMF team trying to track down an A.I.-based weapon that could destabilize the entire world.

Cruise is joined by familiar faces and newcomers alike. The returning champs are Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Czerny, Vanessa Kirby, and Frederick Schmidt. Newcomers include Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Cary Elwes, Rob Delaney, Indira Varma, Shea Whigham, Mark Gatiss, Esai Morales, and Charles Parnell.

You’ll be able to see the big stunt, which, happily, went off without a hitch, and a whole lot more when  Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One  opens in theaters on July 12.

For more on Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, check out these stories:

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Early Reactions Marvel at Jaw-Dropping Action Epic

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Will Be Longest Film in Franchise History

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Trailer Unveils Tom Cruise’s Deadliest Mission Yet

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Poster Reveals Tom Cruise’s Craziest Stunt

Featured image: Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

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Tom Cruise's Most Daring 'Mission: Impossible' Stunts

Tom Cruise famously does nearly all of his own stunts throughout the "Mission: Impossible" series and is constantly finding ways to elevate them to new levels.

In "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000), he free-solo climbed on camera, a stunt which was originally supposed to be done by a professional climber. In "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" (2011), Cruise climbed on the side of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is the world's tallest building. For the action scenes in "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation" (2015), he clung to the side of an airplane flying 1,000 feet in the air and then trained alongside costar Rebecca Ferguson to hold his breath underwater for an extended period of time.

In "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" (2018), he performed a HALO jump on camera from 25,000 feet in the air, trained 16 hours a day to fly a helicopter, and then rode a motorcycle at up to 100 mph in Paris.

In the latest installment, "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" (2023), Cruise's stunts involve a motorbike jump off a mountain, a one-handed car chase while handcuffed to actor Hayley Atwell, intense fight choreography in Venice's narrow alleyways, and a fight scene on top of a moving train.

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How the cast of Mission: Impossible felt watching Tom Cruise riding a bike off a cliff in Dead Reckoning

In the seventh and latest Mission: Impossible movie, actor Tom Cruise performs what director Christopher McQuarrie describes as his most dangerous stunt yet — driving a motorbike straight off a cliff.

"We have a motto on this movie now, which is, "that's a terrible idea. When do we start?" McQuarrie said in an interview with ABC News.

"The more ill-advised something seems, that's how we know we're onto something. And what you're seeing in this movie is just Tom and I taking everything we've learned from all the movies previously — not just Mission: Impossible — [but] Top Gun, Edge of Tomorrow. All the movies we've done separately and together and just applying it to this one."

In Dead Reckoning Part One, which releases in Australia this week, Ethan and his team of spies race across the globe to face off against a sophisticated, evolving AI threat.

Dead Reckoning is the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible series, and the first of two parts. 

It stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Pom Klementieff, who was present when Cruise made his death-defying leap.

"We all were watching, we were in Norway and we saw him do it seven or eight times in a row in front of us, it was insane," Klementieff, who plays new character Paris, said.

"It's easier to be there than it is to wait to hear if it went well," Pegg added.

"If you're back at the hotel or the cruise ship we were staying on at the time -- just watching your watch and just waiting, it's terrifying. It's better to be there. Get it over with, tear the bandaid off, see it happen. But my God it was extraordinary."

Still, McQuarrie says another stunt in Part Two, which is due out June 2024, will top even this one.

"So if you go back and look at the other Mission: Impossibles you can see within other sequences, the dress rehearsals for the sequences we're doing now, after every movie, we just look at one another and say 'we can do better'.'"

Currently, the Mission: Impossible series has grossed over $US3.5 billion worldwide ($5.3 billion)

Cruise is famous for performing his own stunts. In 2018's Fallout, he set a record and became the first person to ever execute a high altitude low opening, or HALO, jump on film.

Shooting during a pandemic

Production on Dead Reckoning occurred during the pandemic, and that allowed the filmmakers unprecedented access to cities like Venice, Rome and Abu Dhabi. The lockdown created both difficulties and opportunities, McQuarrie said.

"I don't think we could have shot in Rome or Venice the way that we did, had we not done so during the pandemic," he said.

"Everything was a challenge. And what we do is take advantage of those challenges. We just find ways to work within them and it permeates into the movie that everything you're feeling in this movie is in part and formed by the fact that we're shooting it during the pandemic."

Hayley Atwell's Grace

Hayley Atwell, known for her role as Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe appears as new character Grace, who becomes embroiled in Ethan Hunt's mission.

Atwell says it was important for her to elevate Grace so that the character wasn't a stereotype or one-dimensional.

"So there were moments when, because a lot of it was ad libbed, I made choices where she would be full of self assurance, then she'd be, you know, overwhelmed by self doubt — so what you have is a kind of character that's consistently inconsistent," Atwell said in an interview.

"The choices she makes change the trajectory of the story, at several times in the film. Therefore, she's not just reactive to what the men are doing or what Tom [Cruise] is doing. She very much has her own agency in this."

The film has been described as a farewell to Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt, but McQuarrie says that might not necessarily be the case.

"Even if I set out to end the franchise, I couldn't be sure that that's how it would end. These movies are changing all the time," McQuarrie says, adding that he would love to find a way to include Sydney as a location for Dead Reckoning Part Two.

Cruise along with Atwell, Pegg, Klementieff and McQuarrie will walk the red carpet at the film's Sydney premiere tonight.

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning releases in Australian cinemas July 8.

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Watch Tom Cruise Break Down His ‘Most Dangerous’ Stunt Ever for New ‘Mission: Impossible’

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Tom Cruise is proving that no mission is too impossible.

The “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part I” star shared a behind-the-scenes video of his stuntwork on the first installment of his farewell to character Ethan Hunt.

“So excited to share what we’ve been working on,” Cruise tweeted.

“Dead Reckoning” is the first half of the conclusion to the 1996 film franchise. Cruise has played undercover CIA agent Ethan Hunt for close to 30 years, with “Mission: Impossible 7” arriving in theaters July 14, 2023, soon followed by “Mission: Impossible 8” out June 28, 2024.

The stunt video shows Cruise training to achieve the  most dangerous stunt of his career, with him riding a motorcycle off a cliff. “This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” Cruise says in the video filmed while in Norway for production in 2020.

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“It all comes down to one thing: the audience,” Cruise adds.

The “Eyes Wide Shut” alum trained in motocross and base jumping for months leading up to the filmed stunt.

“I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I don’t want to get tangled in the bike,” Cruise previously told Empire magazine about the jaw-dropping feat. “If I do, that’s not going to end well.”

Of course, that’s not the only cutting-edge stunt Cruise masters for “Mission: Impossible.” A first look at the film during Paramount Pictures’ showcase at CinemaCon earlier this year captured Cruise holding onto a plane while flying over South Africa. Cruise also recently thanked fans for their support in a video of himself jumping out of a plane .

“The ‘MI’ series really does represent the pinnacle of filmmaking excellence,” Paramount president Brian Robbins said earlier this year at CinemaCon. “And we have no doubt that this new picture will set the bar even higher.”

Robbins continued, “After five release dates and a whole bunch of rumors where this movie would end up, we are finally ready to bring this phenomenal movie to where it always belonged, and that is your theaters.”

Director Christopher McQuarrie helms the upcoming film, which will exclusively have a theatrical release due in part to Cruise’s urging. Production for “Dead Reckoning Part I” was repeatedly halted by the COVID-19 pandemic but eventually wrapped in September 2021. The budget reportedly ballooned upwards of $290 million during production, with additional funds allocated to finish post-production on the action epic.

So excited to share what we’ve been working on. #MissionImpossible pic.twitter.com/rIyiLzQdMG — Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) December 19, 2022

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Screen Rant

How mission: impossible 7's motorcycle cliff jump was filmed.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning continues the franchise trend of unbelievable stunts, with the latest being a dangerous motorcycle cliff jump.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning  continues the franchise's trend of outlandish, unbelievable stunts with a motorcycle cliff jump involving Tom Cruise, but how did the cast and crew film the scene? The previous entry,  Mission: Impossible - Fallout , had Cruise learning to perform a HALO jump in camera and how to fly a helicopter for its over-the-top stunts. Previous Mission: Impossible  movies saw Cruise clinging to the side of a plane as it took off, or running down the side of the world's tallest building, proving his immense dedication to his craft.

Therefore, with  Mission: Impossible   7 , fans of the franchise were left wondering how Cruise and  director Christopher McQuarrie would top the already amazing stunts performed in the series thus far. With the added caveat of the next two  Mission: Impossible films being a two-parter, a first for the franchise, speculation began on not just the stunts and action details but what the story would entail as well. However, the trailer for  Mission: Impossible 7  provides some insight into the next big stunt: a motorcycle jump off a sickeningly high cliff.

Related:  Mission: Impossible 7 Can Pay Off A Cut Ethan & Ilsa Scene & Plot Point

As with all of Tom Cruise's productions, his dedication to authentic, in-camera stunts came into play here. He and the rest of the crew had to do an immense amount of preparation for the stunt, performing it six different times in their strive for greatness. Tom Cruise, a regular for dangerous stunts , trained heavily during pre-production to prepare for the jump. His preparation included doing over 13,000 motocross jumps and over 500 skydives. Given Cruise's previous action experiences involving all manner of different vehicles, one would excuse him for under preparing. However, with Cruise doing over 30 helicopter dives each day during pre-production in order to prepare for the base jump section of the fall, it's clear this wasn't the case and he remained as committed as ever. The feat involved Cruise riding the motorcycle off a cliff, before transitioning into a free fall and base jumping with a parachute. In order to achieve this, and make sure it didn't go horribly wrong, the crew of  Mission: Impossible 7  (meaningfully titled  Dead Reckoning )  digitally tracked each of the practice runs using a GPS attached to Cruise's back. Different variables, such as the wind, were tracked accordingly so the crew could figure out the best way to shoot the jump, and also so they could keep Cruise from any potential harm.

Due to the intense nature, and potential danger, of the stunt, it was filmed during the very first day of principal photography. Cruise outlined some of the ways the stunt could have gone wrong (via  Empire ):

“If the wind was too strong, it would blow me off the ramp... The helicopter [filming the stunt] was a problem, because I didn’t want to be hammering down that ramp at top speed and get hit by a stone. Or if I departed in a weird way, we didn’t know what was going to happen with the bike. I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I don’t want to get tangled in the bike. If I do, that’s not going to end well.”

Luckily, this  dangerous Mission: Impossible 7  motorcycle stunt went off without a hitch. Cruise's intense preparation and training, as well as the professionalism of the rest of the cast and crew saw that the day went smoothly, capturing the franchise's latest death-defying sequence without any major issues. Tom Cruise put his dangerous motorcycle jumps to the test, driving off the Norweigan mountaintop on which the sequence was filmed, with camera-mounted drones and helicopters catching the fall and base jump all on the first day of shooting.

If Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie have proven anything on  Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation , Fallout,  and now  Dead Reckoning , it's that their eye for breathtaking stunts hasn't faltered. Whether this motorcycle jump will be the main stunt of the film, or if the duo has anything else hidden up their sleeves remains to be seen. However, if this one sequence is anything to go by, it proves that  Mission: Impossible 7   will be another stellar entry in one of cinema's greatest modern action franchises .

Next:  Mission: Impossible 8's Cruise Sendoff Explains Returning Character Mystery

Key Release Dates

Mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one, mission: impossible - dead reckoning - part two.

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Mission: Impossible 7 will feature Tom Cruise's most dangerous stunt ever

By Sam Moore

Most people have limits – but then, most people are not Tom Cruise . In the name of cinema, the diminutive action legend has flown a real fighter jet, hung off the side of the world’s tallest building and strapped himself to the wing of a plane as it was taking off. Now, if that wasn’t enough, he claims Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will feature his “most dangerous” stunt yet.

In a newly-released behind the scenes featurette, we see Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie plot, plan and execute a stunt that has to be seen to be believed. The crux of the stunt is Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt will ride a motorbike off a very real cliff before base jumping his way to safety and hopefully not dying in the process. No harnesses and no doubles were used in the making of the scene, meaning if Tom Cruise’s parachute doesn’t deploy, Tom Cruise goes splat (but would probably still survive).

As the nine minute clip shows, the process of putting together such a stunt is anything but simple. As part of his training, Cruise completed over 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps and at one point brags he knows how fast he is going on the bike from its sound and vibrations. The team also make use of simulations and data to perfect the science of how steep to build the ramp and where to place the cameras.

McQuarrie says the stunt wouldn’t even have been possible two years ago due to technological limitations but the scene has apparently been a dream of Cruise’s for some time.

In typical Mission: Impossible tradition, the bike ride to base jump into an actual canyon is the first scene Cruise shot for the film. In a moment as tense as one of the series’ huge set-pieces itself, we watch McQuarrie and the crew watch Cruise perform the stunt for the first time and absolutely nail it – much to the relief of the now very grey haired director.

They got the shot first time but Cruise thinks he can do better and hold on to the bike a little longer before it plummets thousands of feet below. So he goes again and again and again. As base jumping coach John DeVore says with unbridled glee: "Tom Cruise just rode a motorcycle off a cliff six times today."

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Tom Cruise says 'Mission' motorcycle stunt took ‘a lot of training’

In a red-carpet interview with Extra TV, Tom Cruise opened up about the incredible motorcycle jump in "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One," saying it took “a lot of training” over years.

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Tom Cruise Bikes Into Infinity in New ‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' Image

It’s never the easy road.

Start with the ending and build it from there. That's a classic narrative building tool, and one that's been successfully deployed for centuries of fictional work. The Mission: Impossible series does something similar - except it's not the ending they start with, it's the big stunt. And for the latest in the saga, Dead Reckoning Part One , we've already seen parts of it. You'll have read about it. You know the script.

Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt . On a motorbike. At the top of a mountain. And he drives off it. But why build up to that point? The big bike stunt, shot in Helsetkopen, Norway , was shot on the first day of filming. Because why not kick off with a bang? That was the thinking from director Christopher McQuarrie , as he explained to Empire Magazine in their new issue, where they have debuted a stunning new image of Cruise on his two-wheeler.

“Doing that on Day One gave us all the time in the world to understand why he [Ethan] was doing what he was doing. If we sat around and tried to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you’d never find it, simply because it’s such a living, breathing thing," enthuses McQuarrie.

RELATED: 'Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part One' Is the Longest Film in the Franchise

Pushing the limits of cinema.

Cruise, McQuarrie and Paramount Pictures have all teased that the motorcycle stunt may well be the biggest stunt in cinema history - knowing this lot, it would be wise to include the addendum of "so far" to that statement. Particularly when you consider that Cruise has, to date - for this franchise alone - hung off the world's tallest building, BASE jumped from an aircraft over 100 times for a single shot, clung onto the side of an airplane as it was taking off, and even survived the might of Henry Cavill 's reloading forearms.

Paramount previously released a featurette detailing Cruise's work on the motorcycle stunt, which showed off the star's dedication to his practical work on camera. It's clear that Cruise doesn't just do what he's told, he listens, learns and then applies it himself by remaining educated and vigilant. It's always about thrilling the audience.

Dead Reckoning Part One also stars Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg , Rebecca Ferguson , Hayley Atwell , Pom Klementieff , Shea Whigham , Cary Elwes and Esai Morales . Its sequel, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two will arrive in theaters on June 28, 2024.

You can check out the featurette for Dead Reckoning Part One down below. The film is set to be released in theaters on July 12, 2023.

Tom Cruise Explains Why Mission: Impossible 7 Bike Stunt Was Filmed First

By Jonathan Sim

Actor Tom Cruise has explained why the motorcycle stunt was the first thing they filmed for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One .

The Mission: Impossible movies have been known for their famous stunts. From Cruise scaling the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol to jumping out of a plane 25,000 feet in Fallout, he has pulled off the most incredible death-defying feats. One of the most jaw-dropping moments in the latest film is a sequence where Ethan Hunt rides a motorcycle off a cliff, and in typical Cruise fashion, he pulls it off for real.

This scene was the first thing they filmed in the movie. Cruise told Entertainment Tonight about this choice. “Well we know either we will continue with the film or we’re not. Let’s know day one! Let us know day one what is going to happen: Do we all continue or is it a major rewrite?”

Director Christopher McQuarrie told Empire about the decision. “Doing that on Day One gave us all the time in the world to understand why he [Ethan] was doing what he was doing. If we sat around and tried to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you’d never find it, simply because it’s such a living, breathing thing.”

When does Mission: Impossible 7 come out?

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One releases on July 12, 2023, by Paramount Pictures.

The cast includes many familiar faces such as Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Henry Czerny reprises his role from the original Mission: Impossible. New cast members include Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff, and Cary Elwes.

“Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands,” reads the official synopsis. “With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most.”

Jonathan Sim is a film critic and filmmaker born and raised in New York City. He has met/interviewed some of the leading figures in Hollywood, including Christopher Nolan, Zendaya, Liam Neeson, and Denis Villeneueve. He also works as a screenwriter, director, and producer on independent short films.

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Movies July 10, 2023

Tom cruise on crazy motorcycle stunts in ‘mission: impossible — dead reckoning part one' (exclusive).

Tom Cruise is on another mission, and this one involves jumping off cliffs on motorcycles!

“Extra’s” Megan Ryte spoke with the movie star at the New York premiere of “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” where he dished about the years of training that went into his cliff-jump stunt and his favorite part of the franchise.

“A lot of training. Years and years of all the motorcycle and all the parachutes, and then we just refined it and had to do it,” Tom said on the red carpet Monday. “We didn’t know what was going to happen on that motorcycle when it went off. It was very interesting. It was exciting.”

Cruise told “Extra” this was one stunt he had prepared for since childhood.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. When I was a little kid, I used to build ramps and go off and have some terrible crashes on my bicycles, but it was a lot of fun doing that.”

Megan also asked Tom if he was aware of the Internet's love of his "Mission: Impossible" running style.

"No, no," Tom replied, laughing. "That's nice. That's nice."

“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” is the seventh installment in the “MI” film series. Asked what he enjoys the most about the iconic action franchise, Tom couldn’t nail it down to just one thing.

“It’s so much fun to make,” he said. “They’re very challenging. I love going into different locations. I love the cast. Every aspect of it, coming up with the stories and then nights like this to be able to share it with audience..”

Speaking of his cast, Cruise gushed about them to Ryte.

“I just admire them so much,” he said. “I work with people that I really respect and care about, from the cast to the crew, everybody. This whole thing has been very special.”

Also special? Tom’s recent hang with Vin Diesel and Lewis Hamilton at an F1 event in Miami.

Tom shared, “That was just cool. We had a lot of fun that day. They are very good guys. I like to see them do well. It was really nice.”

“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” jumps into theaters July 12.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Shot Tom Cruise's Bike Stunt Before Knowing The Reason For It

To say that IMF super-agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) likes to live life on the edge would be a literal understatement. The man has dangled off planes and high-rise rooftops, held his breath underwater for more than 5 minutes for the sake of a mission, and fought bad guys on a moving train several times. As we approach the seventh installment in the endlessly invigorating "Mission: Impossible" franchise with the highly-anticipated "Dead Reckoning – Part One," expectations surrounding Hunt's daredevil antics have only gotten more pronounced. Moreover, with Cruise intimately involved in the evolution of Ethan Hunt, combined with his unparalleled commitment to raising the stakes with every installment, it is fair to expect grander action set pieces and even more impressive stuntwork from the upcoming film.

Turns out, Cruise's dedication to upping the stakes with every "Mission: Impossible" film is so intense that his insane, highly-publicized bike stunt for "Dead Reckoning" was filmed even before it found a purpose within the expanding story. Per an exclusive feature on "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" in the latest issue of Empire , even director Christopher McQuarrie was unsure as to why Hunt was endangering his life by driving a bike off a cliff, as they had not worked that part out into the story yet.

However, if that's the case, why go through with such a laborious, and not to mention, dangerous stunt in the first place? The answer is simple: Cruise wanted to do it, and in the process, make an audacious statement about a franchise that did not flinch from soaring dizzying heights just to entertain its audiences. Judging by audience reactions to the bike-stunt footage alone, this risk-laden endeavor can be considered a success. 

Taking a leap of faith

Almost every "Mission: Impossible" entry boasts of bold, truly creative stuntwork that effectively keeps audiences at the edge of their seats. However, what makes these larger-than-life setpieces work is the steady, reliable presence of Ethan Hunt — a man who can push himself to the limits for the sake of his work, and still acknowledge his limitations on an emotional front. Hunt might be flawed, impulsive, even, when he suddenly decides to jump off the Burj Khalifa, but he is, ultimately, a formidable IMF agent and an unstoppable force of nature.

Keeping Hunt's evolution as a person and an agent in mind, Cruise's decision to up the ante with the bike stunt in "Dead Reckoning" feels fitting. As for working it into the story, this shouldn't be a problem in the capable hands of McQuarrie and co., who've managed to flesh out compelling action-centric stories with kinetic "M:I" characters at the center. McQuarrie commented about the bike stunt in the Empire issue:

"Doing that [the stunt] on Day One gave us all the time in the world to understand why he [Cruise] was doing what he was doing. If we sat around and tried to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you'd never find it, simply because it's such a living, breathing thing."

Cruise also weighed in on his feelings about the stunt, explaining that "it's never the easy road" but that he has "a responsibility to audiences" and to everyone in the industry, and at no point would he afford to "compromise the storytelling." As Cruise innately understands his Ethan Hunt, doing the stunt right after filming commenced must have felt intuitively right, providing the writers ample time to incorporate it seamlessly with an evolving story. Ultimately, with Cruise involved, no mission is impossible. 

Mission: Impossible 7 Reveals the Fate of the Motorbike From Tom Cruise's Epic Stunt

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One shows what happened to Tom Cruise's motorcycle after his memorable stunt off a cliff.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One finally revealed the fate of the motorcycle Tom Cruise used for his jaw-dropping stunt in the latest installment of the franchise.

On Instagram, Dead Reckoning Part One responded to a fan inquiry about what happened to the motorcycle by posting footage of a helicopter pulling up the shattered bike from the rubble, with a clean-up crew recovering its scattered parts and pieces. Set to some somber music, the footage is accompanied by the caption, "For everyone asking what happened to the bike."

RELATED: Why Mission: Impossible 7's Cast Laughed During Tom Cruise's Most Dangerous Stunt

In Dead Reckoning Part One , Cruise's Ethan Hunt drives his bike off a cliff and into a base jump, parachuting to safety while the bike plummeted to its demise. Cruise's motorcycle sequence is one of the defining scenes in the movie, with the legendary actor putting his body through the wringer to make the summer blockbuster a must-watch event. Earlier this year, Cruise broke down how he survived the bike stunt during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! , detailing the timing and precision involved to ensure it went to plan.

Along with his motorcycle stunt, Cruise also fought above a fast-moving train as Hunt takes on Esai Morales' Gabriel in another key Dead Reckoning Part One scene. Additionally, Cruise engaged in a speedflying stunt which took him years of training to get right. Despite the cast and crew openly expressing concern about his penchant for stunts and the risk involved, Cruise insisted he isn't worried about the effect the stunts have on his colleagues' nerves.

The Success of Mission: Impossible 7

Thanks in part to Cruise's stunt work, Dead Reckoning Part One has become a hit with critics and fans, with the film being called on the best Mission: Impossible installments to date as it boasts a 96% critical rating and 94% audience score via Rotten Tomatoes. Commercially, Mission: Impossible 7 has grossed $378.5 million worldwide, though its box-office momentum has slowed considerably thanks to "Barbenheimer" as Barbie and Oppenheimer have been resounding successes since their shared Jul. 21 release. That said, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond admitted Dead Reckoning Part One could get a second run at IMAX theaters once "Barbenheimer" ends as the Christopher McQuarrie-helmed movie hopes to make a significant profit on its $291 million budget.

RELATED: Why Mission: Impossible 7 Doesn't End on a Cliffhanger

Fans can look forward to more death-defying stunts from Cruise when Dead Reckoning Part Two follows up Part One , with the eighth Mission: Impossible movie slated for release on Jun. 28, 2024. However, production on the upcoming film has been halted due to the ongoing Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now playing in theaters.

Source: Instagram

Tom Cruise Breaks Silence On Death-Defying Motorcycle Stunt

On a crisp September morning in Norway, Tom Cruise walked up to a Honda CRF 450 , mounted, and rode a ramp off a cliff.

When it comes to making a bike look good, world-renowned actor Tom Cruise has the cat in the proverbial bag. His stunts are a thing of legend – and one of his most impressive stunts to date will be featured in the action film “Mission: Impossible 7”.

In the film, Tom Cruise times a cliff jump without crunching into helicopter, drone, bike, or cliff walls on the descent.  Cruise explains the technical details to EmpireOnline , stressing the difficulty of execution.

And who can blame him? If I had to ride a gorgeous bike off a ramp and time my parachute like that, you’d be scraping me off the floor with a spatula.

“If the wind was too strong, it would blow me off the ramp. The helicopter [filming the stunt] was a problem because I didn’t want to be hammering down that ramp at top speed and get hit by a stone. Or if I departed in a weird way, we didn’t know what was going to happen with the bike. I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute, and I don’t want to get tangled in the bike. If I do, that’s not going to end well.”

For Cruise, the stunt itself took about six seconds – but the actual training took months to pull off properly, and lockdown/phase mandates didn’t help the film’s production.

Unprecedented times caused the actor and crew to find alternative filming routes, and the push to produce paid off.

Ruroc EOX Revealed

He recalls the relief at being able to carry forward with production, stating, “I was thinking about the people I work with and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief. It was very emotional, I gotta tell you.”

Keep a beady eye on the box office mates – this film promises to be an eye-opener.

*edit – thanks for the heads-up on the incorrect motorcycle brand/model everyone!  The BMW is rectified to a Honda..may it rest in peace.*

Should have been the other way around.

I admire the bloke.

1. He rides motorcycles. 2. He does his own stunt/s 3. He’s laid Nicole Kidman… Green with envy

Not true…..he acts like he does his own stunts…….he is a phoney…..

He literally did this stunt. I’m blown away how dumb you are for saying this.

Poor bike. It became expendable. Cruise is learning from James Bond on trashing agency assigned machines. I felt bad when Daniel Craig trashed the hell out of the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. 🙁

Because of his high position within the Scientology cult he was able to buy a planet for his spirit to retire to when he finally carks it. So, riding a bike off a cliff is not a worry. With a planet home for back up what could go wrong ?

It’s exactly like the amish cult, it’s really selfish how they think.

It’s an inanimate object. Smh I think the bike didn’t feel anything.

Looks like a Honda CRF?

It’s not a GS, that’s for sure.

Did either of you morons actually read the fucking article? Is a Honda CRF 450. Holy shit, are people really this dumb?

Hey Dees, we originally reported the incorrect bike and have since corrected the article.

Def not a BMW GS in pic

I wonder how much his insurance policy against injury or death costs. It must be millions.

Mr.Cruise is true actor and puts mouth where his heart is.

Definitely not a bmw…more like a few year old honda crf450….and a much better bike to be launching off a cliff. Sorry bmw…

I wonder if he knows where David Miscavige’s wife is? Only been missing since 2007, no biggie.

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Why Mission: Impossible 7’s Train Crash Looks So Real Detailed By VFX Artists

• VFX artists have reacted to the train crash in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning , detailing how the impressive action scene was created.
• The train crash was a mixture of practical effects and CGI, with a real locomotive being thrown off a mountain against a rendered background.
• Despite the use of CGI in the recent Mission: Impossible movie, it doesn't make Tom Cruise's stunts any less impressive.

VFX artists have detailed how Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning made a train crash that looked so real during the movie's climactic final action sequence. The end of the film sees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) rescuing Grace (Hayley Atwell) on a train, detaching parts of the vehicle to save everyone else aboard. This involves a scene where the train crashes into a lake, the sequence looking highly realistic and adding to the final act's tension.

Now, Corridor Crew, on their show "VFX Artists React," has analyzed the movie's train crash scene, revealing how the Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning stunt came to fruition.

Starting at 16:42, the VFX artists discuss how the train scene in the action-packed spy movie utilized a mixture of both a real, simulated train crash and CGI to create the effect found in the final product. Check out what Corrider Crew had to say about the train scene below:

What I find nuts about [the train crash] sequence here is that they actually threw a train off of a bridge.... The entire train was replaced [with CGI]. But they kept the crash of the train. Which I thought was very smart because they specifically left in the real composited footage over the gray render background. So you're like, "Oh, yeah, those splashes, the train hitting the ground? That was real." They have gone out of their way to create these real sets that move and transform like this, so at the end here when Tom Cruise actually grabs [a train seat railing], he's actually hanging, even though at the beginning of the shot he's walking. And again, it all gets replaced in CG, because it, at this point, they can make it look as good as the real thing in CG. But the thing they are keeping that is real are the actors.

Why Mission: Impossible 7's Stunts Are Still So Impressive (Despite Using Some CGI)

The Corridor Crew's analysis of the scene also points out how, despite the Mission: Impossible movies often being marketed as having real stunts, it still utilizes some CGI atop the practical effects . This includes the environment throughout the final sequence of the movie, with the landscape around the train actually being a computer-generated render. Footage shown in the video includes Cruise's motorcycle jumping off a cliff , which used a ramp that was replaced by a computerized mountain in the final movie.

However, despite the use of CGI to help enhance the many eye-catching stunts throughout the movie, it's never utilized to fully replace everything Cruise and other cast members are doing in its action-packed sequences. Practical sets were used for the train crash sequence, including a real locomotive being thrown off a mountain and mock train cars being built for Cruise and Atwell to climb. The environment for the motorcycle jump also may have been computer-generated, but the series star still jumped, making it impressive despite the falsified background.

The same mixture of practical stunts with CGI enhancements will likely be used in the upcoming Mission: Impossible 8 , which will seemingly show the story of Dead Reckoning continue. This means impressive effects like those seen in the train crash are going to be normalized for the whole franchise. It hints at a wide number of new stunts that, no matter their effects, are still carefully-designed parts of the movie. With the train crash setting a precedent for the series, more sequences like it are probable for future installments.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning is now streaming on Paramount+.

Source: Corridor Crew/YouTube

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning is an action-adventure spy thriller from director Christopher McQuarrie. It's the seventh entry in the Mission: Impossible series and a direct sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The title will star Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ving Rhames.

Director Christopher McQuarrie

Release Date July 12, 2023

Studio(s) TC Productions, Skydance

Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures

Writers Christopher McQuarrie

Cast Haley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Rob Delaney, Esai Morales, Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Cary Elwes

Rating PG-13

Runtime 164 minutes

Genres Action, Crime, Adventure

Franchise(s) Mission: Impossible

Sequel(s) Mission: Impossible 8

prequel(s) Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible II, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible III

Budget $290 Million

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The Bikeriders

After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must cho... Read all After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club. After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.

• Jeff Nichols
• Jodie Comer
• Austin Butler
• 7 User reviews
• 16 Critic reviews
• 73 Metascore

• Funny Sonny

• Gary Rogue Leader

• The Kid's Mother
• (as Mierka 'Mookie' Girten)

• The Kid's Father
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia In October 2018, Jeff Nichols revealed he had been thinking about making a biker film set in the 1960s for five years, although he did not at that stage have a script, and mentioned the idea on the set of Long Way Back Home to Michael Shannon who reportedly told him "You've been talking about that damn idea for so long. You're never gonna make that [film]".

Johnny : [from trailer] I've been thinking, I can run this club forever. I've built this from nothing. This is our family. You and me kid.

• Soundtracks Lonely Room Written by J. M. Rigter and Willie Murray Performed by Mickey Murray Courtesy of Sun Records

User reviews 7

• cinemapersonified
• Nov 6, 2023
• How long will The Bikeriders be? Powered by Alexa
• June 21, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• Official Instagram
• Official Twitter
• Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• 20th Century Studios
• New Regency Productions
• Regency Enterprises
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 56 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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The Fall Guy's Ryan Gosling Declares 'Stunts Deserve an Oscar'

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt agree that stunt performers have "deserved an Oscar for a very long time."

• Just like costumes, cinematography, and makeup, stunts are also meticulously designed and deserve Oscar recognition.
• Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling agree that iconic stunts from films like Mad Max and The Dark Knight deserved Oscar recognition and praise.
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took a positive step towards recognizing stunt performers at the 2024 Oscars but have not introduced an official category for it yet.

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt , who star in the new movie The Fall Guy , unanimously agree that "stunts deserve an Oscar." Directed by David Leitch (a former stuntman), The Fall Guy is loosely based on the cult-classic '80s series of the same name. The film follows Colt Seavers (Gosling), an underappreciated stuntman who is tasked with tracking down the film's leading star, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), to save the shoot and impress his director, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).

In an interview with Jake's Takes , the pair were asked about the long-overdue Oscar for Best Stunts, an award that stunt performers have been petitioning for, for years at this point. During the interview, Gosling and Blunt were asked about The Fall Guy signaling that there should be a Best Stunts Oscar by now. Gosling compared stunts to the other major departments in his answer, saying:

" They have deserved an Oscar for a very long time . It is designed, just as much as make-up is designed, or costumes, or the cinematography. The action is designed as well."

The Fall Guy

The pair were also asked which stunts they've seen which deserve an Oscar. Emily Blunt listed a few films, saying " some of those stunts in Mad Max , that stuff was incredible. The Dark Knight stunts ... remember the truck flip? Extraordinary stunts." Ryan Gosling then brought up the most prominent actor that does all his own stunts... Tom Cruise. "What about Tom Cruise," Gosling said, "going on the motorcycle over the mountain?" The interviewer then asked about the prospect of Tom Cruise winning his first Oscar for stunts, to which Blunt simply said, "Tom Cruise deserves to win an Oscar. What a legacy that guy has."

Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling made an appearance at the 2024 Academy Awards, promoting The Fall Guy , and presenting a special commemoration for stunt performers. While it wasn't a direct award, many agreed it was a step in the right direction for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Many Directors and Performers Have Petitioned for a Best Stunt Oscar

The release of John Wick: Chapter 4 in 2023 re-ignited the petition for stunt performers to receive an Oscars category, recognizing their hard (often life-threatening) work. Speaking to ComicBookMovie.com in 2023, the film's director, Chad Stahelski (another former stunt performer), said that conversations had taken place between the Academy and stunt coordinators . Stahelski said an Oscar for stunts "can happen as soon as, you know, the next Oscars, or at least the one after that. At the latest, the next three or four years."

Ryan Gosling’s The Fall Guy Breaks Spectacular Guinness World Record

Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling are just two of many actors and directors that agree stunt performers deserve an Oscars category. Extraction star Chris Hemsworth, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 director Christopher McQuarrie, and Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford , have all publicly stated that stunt performers are underappreciated in the industry and deserve an award category at the Oscars.

One of the major selling points of The Fall Guy is the insane stunt work that David Leitch and his stunt coordinator, Keir Beck, have packed the movie with. The first trailers highlight the death-defying abilities of the film's stunt team (including Logan Holladay, Chris OHara, and Ben Jenkin). The Fall Guy will likely add more fuel to the Best Stunts Oscar fire when it releases this May.

The Fall Guy crashes into cinemas on May 2, 2024