At 62, Tom Cruise continues to prove why he is an action movie legend. During the premiere of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning at the Cannes Film Festival, director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that the actor was on the verge of losing his life while filming one of the saga's most daring scenes.

The sequence, shot in South Africa, shows Cruise on the wing of a biplane flying at more than 140 miles per hour. The actor, known for performing his own stunts, spent 22 minutes outside the cockpit - ten minutes longer than safety protocols allow - which generated moments of real panic among the film crew.

"Tom had pushed his body to the limit," McQuarrie recounted during a master class at Cannes. "He was so physically exhausted that he couldn't get off the wing. He was lying down, with his arms dangling in front of him. We didn't know if he was conscious."

The problem was compounded when it was confirmed that the plane had only six minutes of fuel left. Cruise finally managed to sit up, put his head in the cockpit to recover oxygen and take control of the aircraft to land it safely.

McQuarrie, who has directed the last four films in the franchise, was blunt: "No one in the world can do that except Tom Cruise," which sparked a standing ovation from the audience.

Between acrobatics and submarines

The aerial scene was not the only challenge in the eighth installment of the saga. The director also shared details about a sequence that shows Ethan Hunt's character descending into a sunken Russian nuclear submarine in the Bering Sea.

Building that set took two and a half years. The set included a 1,000-ton, 60-foot-diameter, rotating steel structure submerged in a tank holding 8.5 million liters of water. "What you see on screen is the real-time test, because there was no way to rehearse that," McQuarrie explained.

The title The Final Reckoning has fueled rumors about whether this is the franchise's final closure. Neither Cruise nor McQuarrie would confirm this. The actor, however, described the project as "the culmination of three decades of work."

Filming was not without obstacles. The film, with an estimated budget of $400 million, had to overcome interruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic and strikes in Hollywood.

Despite the delays, the wait seems to have been worth it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, early critics attending press screenings called the film "amazing," "breathtaking" and "just insane," and consider it the best action film of the summer.

Cruise, for his part, doesn't shy away from danger. "I like the feeling [of fear]. It's just a thrill for me. It's not paralyzing," he said at Cannes. "I'm like, 'Oh, this is exciting'... I don't mind facing the unknown."

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning opens this weekend in India, Australia and South Korea. Europe and the Middle East will have to wait until May 21, while the North American release is scheduled for May 23.

With information from AFP