Tom Cruise is known for performing high-octane action stunts in his films. The actor is also famous for doing most of his stunts by himself. We have seen Cruise hang off planes, ride motorbikes, and fly helicopters in his movies. However, apparently, that’s not limited to just films. The Hollywood actor has landed helicopters in people’s yards as well. Except for one that he couldn’t land in James Corden’s yard to meet him for dinner.
Tom Cruise Wanted To Land On James Corden’s Yard
During an interview on The Late Late Show With James Corden, the host said that he and Tom Cruise once planned to meet for dinner and the actor asked if he could land a helicopter in his yard. Seeing Cruise land in a helicopter in someone’s yard is an eyebrow-raising event and Corden was perplexed upon hearing the request as well. The host explained:
“Last summer, we were both in London and we both made a plan to get together and I texted you (Tom Cruise) and I said ‘yeah we’re both in London let us get together’ and you wrote back ‘Can I land my helicopter on your yacht?’ I said ‘I will have to measure it out, it’s very central in London.’ He said ‘You’d be surprised where I can land.’ He didn’t land but we did meet for dinner.”
Corden then asked the Top Gun: Maverick actor if he has landed on ordinary people’s yards. Cruise expressed that he indeed had. Here’s how the conversation went between the two:
Corden: “Where have you landed?”
Cruise: “I have landed on yards, fields, I mean, they let you land on people’s yards. Like sometimes I have a location (audience laughs) It’s England, they just let you do that.”
Corden: “Wasn’t there a family in Warwickshire where you landed on their land?”
Cruise: “Yes”
Corden: “But did they know you were landing?”
Cruise: “I don’t know. The location guy just said please just land here because we were location scouting and I had to move around a lot and cover a lot during the day and so I just landed in the yard, the family was there, they were lovely, loved the helicopter.”
Corden: “Do they get a phone call saying someone’s going to land in your garden or did the helicopter just land in their garden.”
Cruise: “I think someone makes that phone call…When I landed, I told the family you know why don’t you fly my helicopter and we’ll take pictures around the yard.”
Unfortunately, Tom Cruise hasn’t been always welcome to land his helicopter. Recently, the Norwegian authorities denied him permission to land 40 helicopters in Svalbard for a stunt sequence in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.
Norway Didn’t Let Tom Cruise Land His Helicopters
The Guardian recently reported that the makers of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two had sought permission from Norwegian authorities to land about 40 helicopters on Svalbard. However, the authorities had denied permission on grounds of the traffic possibly endangering the arctic wildlife in the area. Svalbard is a protected Arctic archipelago that lies midway between the north pole and Norway. It is home to about 3000 polar bears and other fauna. In fact, the polar bears there outnumber the number of people (2700).
While the makers of the latest Mission Impossible film had initially planned to contest the denial, they have since dropped their attempts after finding alternate solutions. Svalbardposten, the local paper, obtained a letter sent by the lawyers of the production company that stated:
“While a complaint to the Norwegian environment agency was deemed necessary due to the significant time pressure, the production has continuously worked on alternative solutions to meet the governor’s concerns. This work has been successful, and the parties no longer see a need to maintain the complaint.”
Tom Cruise hasn’t commented on the matter. As per Svalbardposten, he has expressed that he is just happy to be in Norway. It remains to be seen what unique solution the makers of the film have found and how the stunt will ultimately be executed.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will be released on 14 July 2023, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two will theaters on 28 June 2024.
Source: James Corden and The Guardian
