A video of star Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie, seemingly in the middle of filming a midair action sequence for the upcoming eighth Mission: Impossible movie, is being circulated online. The video was originally played before the trailer debut of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One at this year’s CinemaCon in April. The event also hosted the first screening of Top Gun: Maverick.

The minute-long video shows Cruise harnessed to a World War II Boeing-Stearman biplane, delivering a message to theater owners that had gathered at CinemaCon. As he spoke about the importance of the big screen experience, the camera panned out and revealed another plane. This one was occupied by McQuarrie, who reminded Cruise that they have a movie to film, and that they were “losing the light,” and were “low on fuel.” Cruise chuckled, and wrapped up his earnest message with a salute to “the movies.”

The video highlighted not just the lengths to which Cruise and McQuarrie are willing to go to capture practical, in-camera action, but also the wonderful terrains of South Africa. It was previously reported that the crew had also filmed an aerial stunt sequence over Cambridgeshire in the U.K. Here’s what Cruise said:

“Hey, everyone! I wish I could’ve been there with you. I’m sorry about all the extra noise. As you can see, we are filming the latest installment of Mission: Impossible, and right now we’re over the gorgeous Blyde River Canyon in stunning South Africa. And we’re making this film for the big screen, for the audiences to see in your wonderful theaters.”

Over the years, the actor has developed a reputation for performing a series of increasingly risky stunts in his films, ranging from climbing the world’s tallest building to being harnessed to the side of an airplane during takeoff. The first trailer for Dead Reckoning Part One has already revealed two show-stopping action sequences — one involving a vintage train, and the other featuring Cruise seemingly driving a motorbike off a cliff.

Cruise has long been a champion of the big screen experience — remember that video of him watching Christopher Nolan’s Tenet during the pandemic? — and made sure that Paramount held on to Maverick despite the interest of several streamers. The studio’s patience paid off, and the film went on to become the biggest hit of 2022, having grossed over $1.42 billion worldwide. It recently became only the sixth movie in history to gross more than $700 million domestically. In addition to this, Cruise also convinced Paramount to pool more money into the two upcoming Mission: Impossible movies, currently slated for release in 2023 and 2024. The Hollywood Reporter carried an in-depth story earlier this year about how Cruise and McQuarrie mounted a back-to-back production, ballooning the seventh film’s budget to nearly $300 million.

M:I 7 features returning players Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson, while Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, and Cary Elwes will be playing new characters, and Esai Morales will appear as the film’s primary antagonist. Dead Reckoning Part One is slated for a July 14, 2023, release, while Dead Reckoning Part Two will arrive in theaters on June 28, 2024. You can get a better look at the video here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates:

via Collider