Christopher McQuarrie, who frequently works with Tom Cruise and is the director of the Mission: Impossible series, wished the actor a happy 60th birthday on Sunday by posting a brand-new behind-the-scenes image that appears to be from the eighth M: I film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part Two (check it out below).
Although McQuarrie didn’t provide any context for the image, it shows Cruise leaning on the wing of a vintage red biplane in mid-roll, which is similar to the one we saw in a pre-recorded message Cruise sent from South Africa set of the movie during CinemaCon in April.
Happy 60th Birthday, Tom. pic.twitter.com/IfWUguhM7c
— Christopher McQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) July 3, 2022
With Top Gun: Maverick, which has earned more than $1.1B worldwide, Cruise, who is known for continuously pushing the limits in his self-performed stunts, is currently flying too high. The movie experienced yet another remarkable hold this past weekend—it’s sixth—falling just 14 percent domestically and 16 percent globally.
Last year, people saw Cruise performing a stunt for Mission: Impossible 8. He was captured on camera escalating from the cockpit of an aircraft to its wing while it was 2,000 feet in the air. Glen Powell, a co-star in Maverick, also tweeted McQ’s photo with the caption, “TC, there’s really nobody like you. Stay strong and persevere. Birthday greetings!
This is 60.
— Glen Powell (@glenpowell) July 3, 2022
TC, there is just no one like you.
Keep hangin’ in there. Happy Birthday!
@TomCruise pic.twitter.com/D3w9PCuNQy
The actor was determined to make the flying sequences as realistic as possible for his most recent movie, Top Gun: Maverick, in which Cruise is reprising his role as naval captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, an aviator, more than 30 years after the classic 1986 movie. As a result, he was actually filmed inside F-18 fighter jets, literally piloting them.
For the scene in Mission: Impossible 7 where Cruise rides a motorcycle off a cliff and into a valley in Norway, Cruise reportedly practiced for a full year. Prior to the stunt, Cruise completed 13,000 motorcycle jumps and 500 skydives. On the first day of filming, the shot itself was taken. In the featurette, Cruise said: “This is by far not the most hazardous endeavor I’ve undertaken. On this, we’ve been working for years. Since I was a young child, I have wanted to do it.
On Sunday, Cruise celebrated his birthday by cheering on his friend and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at the British Formula 1 Grand Prix. He is a significant friend of mine. On the starting grid, Cruise said to Sky Sports, “I hope he has an important day. (Hamilton finished third, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz taking home his first career victory.) Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One will be released on July 14 of the following year from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media, while Part Two will follow on June 28, 2024.
A closer look at the image McQuarrie shared is shown below
