'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' News: Tom Cruise Learned to Fly Helicopter for Deadly Stunt
Makers of "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" revealed that lead actor Tom Cruise learned to fly a helicopter for a death-defying stunt that even veteran pilots would not attempt.
In a recently released behind-the-scenes promo for the sixth installment of "Mission: Impossible," director Chris McQuarrie said, "none of this has ever been attempted before."
The 55-year-old actor playing Ethan Hunt has been known for doing his own action-packed stunt, but he put it a few steps further this time by learning not just to fly an Airbus helicopter in record time, but also to perform a 360-spiraling nosedive. "Most pilots wouldn't attempt this," said stunt coordinator Wade Easton.
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He added that Cruise did not want to do it on a green screen and make the viewers feel cheated. "It's super important for a movie like 'Mission' to be doing it all practically and for real," Easton shared.
For the stunt, Cruise flew the helicopter, operated the camera, as Henry Cavill's character, August Walker, tried to blast him from the sky. All the while, a total of 13 helicopters were flying for filming and support, with some even doing aerobatics, making the stunt even more dangerous.
"I've always wanted a sequence like this," shared Cruise in an Instagram post, which shows a clip of his helicopter stunt.
The cast did not indicate whether they created the helicopter stunt before or after Cruise sustained an ankle injury in London last August, pushing them to postpone production for two months.
Despite this, they assured fans that the movie will be released as scheduled.
"Mission: Impossible - Fallout" follows Ethan Hunt and his IMF team in a mission went wrong. Returning for action are Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Michelle Monaghan. Newcomers include Cavill, Vanessa Kirby, and Angela Bassett.
The sixth "Mission: Impossible" movie premieres July 27, 2018.
