Tom Cruise is back in action as Ethan Hunt on the set of Mission: Impossible 7, and the 58 year-old actor is showing no signs of slowing down as he continues to perform his own stunts for the movie. Cruise's commitment to wild and dangerous stunt setpieces is a crucial part of what has made the Mission: Impossible movies so jaw-dropping, and he seems determined to one-up himself with each new entry in the series.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol took Cruise to queasy heights as he Mission: Impossible - Fallout he performed a HALO jump from a C-17 military transport plane and broke his ankle in two places during a rooftop parkour sequence, pushing through the pain to finish the take (he can be seen limping on that foot in the movie).
The as-yet untitled Mission: Impossible 7 is currently filming in various locations across Europe, and is set for release in November 2021. The Mission: Impossible films are largely shot on location, which means that many set photos have emerged during filming that tease some of the stunts Cruise will be performing this time around. Here are the sequences that have been revealed so far (note: where we don't have permission to use photos of the stunts, we have recreated them).
A Fight On Top Of A Train
The very first Mission: Impossible movie saw Ethan Hunt engaging in a dizzying fight with a helicopter while riding on the top of a TGV bullet train. Even Cruise has his limits, and since this scene defied the laws of physics in many ways, it was mostly filmed on sound stage with a wind machine used to recreate the effect of a train traveling at 200mph. Perhaps to redress the CGI trickery used in the original movie, Mission: Impossible 7 will revisit the theme of fighting on top of a train - only this time, with Cruise doing it for real. Haywell Atwell, shared a video of the serene Norwegian countryside filmed from the roof of the train, which means she'll be involved with this stunt as well. It may not be moving as fast as the bullet train, but the fact that the stunt's being performed on a real train rather than a set in a studio could make it look even more exciting on the big screen.
A Motorcycle Jump From A Mountain Ramp
Mission: Impossible 7 director Christopher McQuarrie (returning after the outstanding entries Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and Fallout) celebrated the sequel's return to filming, after it was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a video of the stunt reveals that Cruise will ride a motorcycle at high speed and leap off the mountainside ramp, dropping the motorcycle at the peak of the jump. The video ends with Cruise deploying a parachute, but it's unclear whether this part will be in the movie, or whether Ethan will find some other way to land safely after this insane leap. The video shows a helicopter with a large camera mount following along behind him during the stunt, which promises a very cool shot of the jump in Mission: Impossible 7. However, the noise and rotor downwash from the helicopter can only have made the stunt even more challenging to pull off.
A Car Chase Through Rome
The Mission: Impossible franchise has had some memorable car chase sequences over the years, and McQuarrie's films have delivered two of the best: a pursuit by motorcycles through the narrow streets of Marrakech in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, and Ethan fleeing Paris authorities on a motorcycle in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Set photos from the filming of Mission: Impossible 7 in Rome have teased yet another high-speed (and then slightly slower-speed) car chase involving Ethan and the new character played by Atwell. In one set video Cruise is helping Atwell's character out of a crashed police vehicle, and photos shared by the Daily Mail show the two of them driving in a tiny yellow Fiat. The Italian Job and its 2003 remake both had great car chases involving Mini Coopers, so watching Ethan maneuver the small car around the streets of Rome promises to be a lot of fun. Other set photos, shared by Just Jared, show Cruise riding on a police motorcycle - perhaps in the first half of the chase.
Water Taxi Hopping In Venice
The striking canals and old buildings of Venice are a popular filming destination, with Spider-Man: Far From Home featuring a major action setpiece in the Italian city, and 2006's Casino Royale staging its final act inside a building sinking into Venice's Grand Canal. Esai Morales, who is playing Mission: Impossible 7's villain.
Details of Mission: Impossible 7's plot remain under wraps for now, but the story has never really been the star of this franchise. One way or another, Ethan Hunt and the rest of the crew will get tangled up in trouble once again, and the only way to get out of it will be performing outlandish and death-defying feats.
