Mission: Impossible 8Director Says an Early Audience Member 'Almost Had a Heart Attack' During Action Sequence

Mar. 15, 2025

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning.Photo: Christian Black/Paramount Pictures

The filmmaker behindTom Cruise’sMission: Impossiblemovies has reason to believe audiences will feel the thrills behind the series' reportedly final film.

“We had a small screening and someone said, ‘I was suffocating throughout the entire sequence. I almost had a heart attack,’ " McQuarrie, 56, said. “And I thought, ‘I guess we did something right.’ "

According to the outlet, McQuarrie also said the upcoming movie features “the most difficult thing” the production and Cruise have ever filmed in the franchise, though he did not specify whether it was the same sequence the unnamed audience member “almost had a heart attack” during.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on June 19, 2023.FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty

FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty

Cruise can be seen diving underwater and entering a submarine, as well as flying a plane in moments teased during thetrailerfor the nextMission: Impossiblemovie, thought it’s not clear whether any of these moments are what McQuarrie referred to while speaking withEmpire.

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The upcoming movie beganfilmingin the U.K., Malta, South Africa and Norway in early 2022; production halted in July 2023 due to the Hollywoodwritersandactors’ strikesand resumed in March 2024.The Final Reckoningwas originally calledDead Reckoning Part Two, but it dropped that subtitle in October 2023.

Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell and Christopher McQuarrie on June 29, 2023.Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images for Paramount pictures

Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images for Paramount pictures

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoningis in theaters May 23. Cruise’s other high-flying upcoming projects include athirdTop Gunfilm, as well as hisin-the-works projectwithBirdmanandThe RevenantfilmmakerAlejandro G. Iñárritu. Cruise has also made plans to film a movie in outer space in recent years; he last shared an update on that untitled movie at a premiere forDead Reckoningin July 2023, when he said he has been “working on it diligently.”

source: people.com