By now we’re all familiar with the fact that, whenever possible, Tom Cruise does his own stunts. Your script calls for the character to run around outside the tallest building in the world? Tom Cruise will do it (though that one almost didn’t happen). For Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Cruise takes on one of his biggest stunt challenges yet: standing out on the outside of a plane while it takes off. The plane doesn’t just go fast down the runway and then stop—it literally takes off into the air, with Tom Cruise, Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, hanging outside on the wing.

We’ve been inundated with so many CG-enhanced stunt and set pieces recently that it’s become hard to be really “wowed” by something, but with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Paramount Pictures wants everyone to know that this is the real deal. As such, they’ve released a brief featurette that includes raw video of Cruise performing the stunt, and it’s insane. When someone like Tom Cruise admits that this stunt had him “scared shitless,” you know it’s a little intense.

And this is only one piece of the film! For another stunt, Cruise learned how to hold his breath for six minutes so director Christopher McQuarrie could shoot an underwater sequence in one take. I can’t wait to see this movie.

Watch the stunt video below. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation opens in theaters on July 31st and also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, and Sean Harris.


mission-impossible-rogue-nation-poster