Tom Cruise is renowned for his work in the action genre throughout his career. What started with Top Gun (1986), began to expand with the actor gaining widespread acclaim for performing his own risky stunts in movies, including the Mission: Impossible franchise.
With the franchise surging past the $4 billion benchmark (as per the Numbers), thanks to its intriguing storylines, Cruise’s star power, and iconic action stunts among others, it will be quite interesting to witness what the next installment has to offer. And it seems like the actor can take inspiration from Red Bull’s daredevil stunt.
Red Bull’s A Door In The Sky Stunt!
While risky stunts are no longer a pipe dream in the entertainment world thanks to several iconic action stars and stuntpeople who are ready to face it all, Red Bull’s 2017 story was mind-blowing. The site featured the story of Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet, who as per the Red Bull site, “are two BASE-jumping experts from France known as the Soul Flyers.”
With their project titled, A Door In The Sky, they leaped off the Jungfrau mountain in the Bernese Alps. Though it looks quite a normal thing for wingsuit flyers, things became interesting as they aimed to land in a Pilatus Porter light aircraft mid-air.
The duo revealed that the stunt was their way of honoring Patrick de Gayardon, a BASE jumper who jumped out from a plane with a wingsuit and then flew back into it in 1997. They elevated their stunt as Reffet recalled telling Fugen, “We have to do it but with a BASE jump from a cliff!”
It was not easy as the latter revealed that he hurt his ribs when he was working on landing in the aircraft.
“It was quite a technical and mental challenge. We had to be focused. During the first training session in Spain, Fred managed to fly into the plane, but I failed and hurt my ribs. One month later, we came back for another session. We felt better and it worked out. We managed to make it five times.”
It was quite an intense project for the duo, who practiced a lot before eventually making it happen. It was an “emotional” moment for the duo which could be the next thing for Tom Cruise‘s upcoming Mission: Impossible 8 movie. But, this won’t be the first time when the Top Gun star would do an air stunt.
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible Franchise is No Stranger to Air Stunts!
Renowned for giving authentic performances, Cruise has always worked on his movie stunts by himself majorly. Given that his authentic stunts have mostly originated in the Mission: Impossible franchise, one of these saw him hanging onto the side of an Airbus A400M in flight.
In 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, fans saw Ethan Hunt hanging onto an aircraft. However, filming the sequence was never easy, starting with convincing the French aeronautics company in charge of the Airbus 400 to let Cruise use that.
The movie’s stunt coordinator, Wade Eastwood revealed that the company initially was hesitant to lend it to them. As per the New York Post,
“If one of their planes has a little hard landing, that’s bad publicity for them. If they hurt Tom Cruise, it would just be bad publicity forever.”
Since the actor wouldn’t take no for an answer, they eventually agreed to provide their aircraft. As the plane rose to 5,000 feet at 184 mph, all the safety precautions were taken to ensure Cruise’s safety. While he felt extremely cold, he ended up filming the sequence successfully, unharmed.
Meanwhile, the movie ended up becoming a box-office blockbuster, grossing over $688 million worldwide as per The Numbers. Meanwhile, an eighth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise is set to hit cinemas on May 23, 2025.
Check out the stunt video here.
