Tom Cruise shares that he lost consciousness from oxygen deprivation while performing a plane stunt for Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise Passed Out Due to Oxygen Deprivation While Filming High-Stakes Plane Stunts for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Hollywood icon Tom Cruise continues to push the boundaries of action filmmaking, revealing that he lost consciousness due to a lack of oxygen while performing intense aerial stunts for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

At 62, Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt in what promises to be one of the most adrenaline-pumping installments of the blockbuster franchise. Known for his commitment to performing his own stunts, the actor has once again taken action to the extreme—this time, facing a serious physical challenge while executing high-speed maneuvers in an airplane.

Speaking to Empire magazine, Cruise detailed the grueling experience:

“When you stick your face out of an airplane going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen. So I had to train myself to breathe. There were moments when I physically passed out and couldn’t get back into the cockpit.”

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Takes Stunts to Unprecedented Levels

The Mission: Impossible franchise has long been defined by its jaw-dropping action sequences, with Cruise previously scaling the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, clinging to the side of a flying plane, and engaging in high-speed chases. However, director Christopher McQuarrie admits that the stunts in The Final Reckoning take things to a whole new level—so intense, in fact, that one particular scene made him feel physically ill.

“There are stunts in this movie that will melt your brain,” said McQuarrie. “There would be a day in Africa—any given day—where Tom would go out and do something that topped anything he had ever done before.”

McQuarrie also revealed that during a private screening, one audience member had an extreme reaction to one of the high-intensity sequences:

“We had a small screening, and someone told us, ‘I was suffocating throughout the entire sequence. I almost had a heart attack.’ And I thought, ‘I guess we did something right.’”

Is Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning the End of the Franchise?

With The Final Reckoning set to release in May, speculation is mounting over whether this could be the last chapter in the long-running spy saga. While rumors swirl, Cruise remains tight-lipped about the franchise’s future.

“You gotta see the movie,” he teased. “It’s a hard thing for me to discuss at the moment because it really is something that you have to experience.”

Director McQuarrie, however, hinted that this film will serve as a culmination of Cruise’s 30-year journey as Ethan Hunt.

“It is, I hope, the satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc. I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate.”

What’s Next for the Mission: Impossible Universe?

Although the future of Ethan Hunt remains uncertain, McQuarrie confirmed that fans will see more of the franchise’s latest additions, including Grace (Hayley Atwell), Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis), and Paris (Pom Klementieff), in the upcoming eighth film.

“The end of the world makes strange alliances. I’m excited for people to see how these characters evolve.”

The director also emphasized that Mission: Impossible thrives on unpredictability, allowing characters to evolve beyond traditional action-movie archetypes.

“If you try to force a character into a specific mold, you’ll be disappointed. But if you let the story unfold naturally, the movie will reward you and take you in directions you never expected.”

With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning poised to deliver breathtaking action and a gripping conclusion, audiences can expect a cinematic experience like never before. The only question that remains: Will this truly be Ethan Hunt’s final mission?