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Tom Cruise felt the need to terrify James Corden in a ‘Top Gun’ fighter jet

The danger zone met the funny bone when Tom Cruise took James Corden up for a pair of unforgettable flights he piloted on Monday night’s “Late Late Show.”

The “Top Gun: Maverick” star, who previously went skydiving with Corden, took the late-night host out to the desert where Cruise revealed he would fly the two of them in a vintage fighter plane.

“With all due respect, you played a lawyer in ‘A Few Good Men.’ I wouldn’t want you to represent me in court,” Corden said. 

Corden tried to run away, but that couldn’t dampen Cruise’s enthusiasm.

“I’m very excited that James is doing this,” he said. “Was he the first late-night show that I asked? Hell, no. He was just the first one — and the only one — who said yes.”

The pair prepped for the flight and Cruise explained what he would do if there’s a malfunction — roll the plane over and dump Corden out.

“I’m going to plop you out,” Cruise said, which had Corden looking stupefied.

If the flight had Corden’s stomach in knots, it had viewers’ stomachs hurting from laughing.

As they took off, Corden asked Cruise for the Wi-Fi password. While they were flying, Cruise took a dive to the left and Corden posted a note saying “Help me” on the window. They also got into a “dogfight” with another plane next to them.

“You’re a madman!” Corden said after Cruise flew over a mountain.

After they landed, Cruise said they were going to go up again in a plane with air conditioning before they engaged in some in “Top Gun” training.

Corden said he has no interest in flying the new plane, but Cruise kept him seated.

“You are my Goose,” he said, alluding to Anthony Edwards’ doomed character in the original “Top Gun.”

“When you say I’m your Goose, it makes me feel excited and then I realize that Goose dies at the end of the film,” Corden said.

Cruise then touched his face to simulate how Corden will feel with negative G and positive G forces. They walked around with Corden’s hands on Cruise’s hips to feel what the flight will be like.

“We’re doing the conga!” an exasperated Corden said.

The segment went into full-blown “Top Gun” parody mode when Cruise started singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” after Corden complained about going up again. They also played volleyball, a reference to one of that movie’s most famous scenes.

While camping out that night, Cruise explained why he called his movie “Cocktail” and how the missions in the “Mission: Impossible” movies were actually possible.

The next day, they took off in the new plane, singing the “Top Gun” classic “Danger Zone” and “Old Time Rock & Roll,” made famous by Cruise’s movie “Risky Business.”

“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” Corden said as Cruise pointed out the nearby trees.

James freaked out as Cruise dipped and then ascended. 

“You absolute bastard,” Corden said before motioning to a camera in another plane that Cruise is crazy.

Cruise said he’d fly straight for a bit, then motioned to the camera that he won’t before he went  upside down.

“Oh my god,” Corden said.

They finally touched down and hugged.

“I love you and I hate you at the same time,” Corden said,

“You can be my wingman anytime,” Cruise said, prompting Corden to reply, “I’m good.”

Drew Weisholtz is a reporter for TODAY Digital, focusing on pop culture, nostalgia and trending stories. He has seen every episode of “Saved by the Bell” at least 50 times, longs to perfect the crane kick from “The Karate Kid” and performs stand-up comedy, while also cheering on the New York Yankees and New York Giants. A graduate of Rutgers University, he is the married father of two kids who believe he is ridiculous.

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Tom Cruise Makes James Corden His Reluctant Goose on a Wild ‘Top Gun’ Jet Ride

• By Jon Blistein

Jon Blistein

Tom Cruise made James Corden his extremely reluctant Goose stand-in as he took the  Late Late Show  host out for a ride in a pair of fighter jets to mark the release of  Top Gun: Maverick . 

The segment began with Cruise picking up Corden at the airport at five in the morning, then taking him for a topsy-turvy ride on a 1944 airplane. But the real fun — or horror, for Corden — began when Cruise started prepping Corden for a ride on a much faster, modern jet. When Corden tried to run off, Cruise stopped him and insisted the comedian was his Goose — the character played by Anthony Edwards in the first  Top Gun  flick. 

As Corden quickly noted, however, “When you say, ‘I’m your Goose,’ it makes me feel excited, and then I realize that Goose dies at the end of the film.” Cruise then eased Corden’s anxiety by insisting he was only Goose from the movie’s first half. “That’s the Goose I want to be,” joked Corden. “I want to be in a bar,  singing ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.'”

From there, Cruise set about trying to acclimate Corden as best he could to the experience of flying in a fighter jet, dropping into “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” each time the comedian’s nerves began to spike. And with some time to kill before the flight the following day, they attempted to play a little beach volleyball, but the game was cut short when Corden hurt his wrist on the first volley. 

For all his anxiety, Corden seemed to enjoy the first few moments in the jet with Cruise, but that swiftly changed as the actor began dive-bombing, zipping through narrow mountain gaps, and making big fat loops in the sky. After safely getting back to Earth, Cruise even told Corden,  “You can be my wingman anytime.”  Corden swiftly retorted, “You know what, I think I’m good.” 

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Tom Cruise Takes James Corden to the Danger Zone with Frightening Flight in 'Top Gun' Fighter Jet

Monday's Late Late Show with James Corden featured the host going on a pair of flights with Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise

Dave Quinn is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE. He has been working at the brand since 2016, and is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It.

James Corden feels the need — the need for a speedy landing.

The Late Late Show host, 43, had an adventurous two days with Tom Cruise on Monday night's show, joining the Top Gun: Maverick actor for a terrifying trip in the air on a pair of fighter jets.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime getaway that Corden wasn't necessarily excited about. In a package of the high-flying experience, he played as an unwilling participant in Cruise's plan — admitting, "When Tom Cruise calls, you sort of have to say yes."

Cruise, for his part, was thrilled to be palling around with Corden again, as the 59-year-old actor previously jumped out of an airplane with Corden while promoting 2018's Mission: Impossible — Fallout .

"I'm very excited that James is doing this," Cruise said, before piloting Corden in both planes. "Was he the first late night show that I asked? Hell no. He was just the first one, the only one , to say yes."

To kick things off, Cruise took Corden for a ride in a 1944 fighter airplane, Corden quickly putting up a sign in the window that said "Help Me."

Things got serious when a dueling plane popped up to challenge them. "We're in a dog fight," Cruise said, as Corden screamed, "I don't give a s---."

For more on Tom Cruise and James Corden flying on fighter jets, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

"You did good," Cruise assured Corden after they landed, the comedian teasing, "The fact that this is your idea of a fun day out tells me how different we are as human beings."

Just when Corden thought he'd survived, Cruise informed him the two would be going up again, this time in a jet fit for modern aerial warfare.

Amid Corden's "I don't want to do it" objections, Cruise told the host, "You are my Goose," a reference to his Top Gun character's best friend in the original 1986 movie.

"When you said I'm your Goose it makes me feel excited and then I realize that Goose dies in the film," Corden explained in response. "You're the first half of the film Goose," Cruise insisted. "That 'You've Lost that Loving Feeling' Goose."

"That's the Goose I want to be," Corden quipped. "I want to be in a bar, singing..."

From there, Cruise and Corden followed through with some additional Top Gun experiences (like a game of volleyball and a camping getaway) before heading up in their flight.

"You look like a fighter pilot, I look like a hamster," Corden said, as they suited up for the flight.

Corden loosened up for his second flight, even channeling his "Carpool Karaoke" segment by singing Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" and Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Old Time Rock and Roll" — two tunes famously featured in Cruise's movies.

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But when Cruise started stunting, even flipping the plane upside down, Corden got scared. "Oh my God," he screamed. "This is absolutely ludicrous. This is the craziest thing... this is the stupidest thing I have ever done."

"You absolute bastard," he told Cruise. "I've got an idea, why don't we fly straight for a bit?"

"Okay, we'll fly straight," Cruise said, before flipping them over again.

Back on the ground, Cruise praised Corden for how he handled it all. "You can be my wingman anytime," he said.

"You know what, I think I'm good," joked Corden.

Top Gun: Maverick opens in theaters on Friday. The long-awaited sequel sees Cruise making his triumphant return as Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, this time returning as an instructor for the elite fliers three decades after his graduation from the TOPGUN Naval aviation program.

Among his young charges is Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Goose ( Anthony Edwards in the first movie). Miles Teller , who plays Rooster, is among the actors cast as new class of pilots. Also joining are Glen Powell , Greg Tarzan Davis and Lewis Pullman .

Aside from the hands-on skills required for the film, Cruise still had more to share with his costars, when the training was over and the cameras turned off.

"There were times after we were wrapped for the day, we would spend an hour circled around him, listening to the stories that he's been through," Davis, 28, told PEOPLE in a new all- Top Gun special edition .

Added Pullman, 29, "Every one of the pilots has a story of him talking about what he thinks is great about them, what they can do with that quality. He teaches you, basically, how Tom Cruise became Tom Cruise ."

The Late Late Show with James Corden airs weeknights (12:30 p.m. ET) on CBS.

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Tom Cruise surprises James Corden with fighter jet flight: 'You're an actor, not a pilot'

"With all due respect, you played a lawyer in A Few Good Men, I wouldn't want you to represent me in court," the late-night host told the Top Gun: Maverick star.

James Corden lived the Top Gun: Maverick experience to the extreme when Tom Cruise visited The Late Late Show .

In 2018, Cruise took Corden skydiving ; this time, he flew him in a vintage fighter plane and a modern war jet.

"I'm gonna go up in a 75-year-old plane with someone who isn't a pilot? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Corden says before running in the opposite direction.

Cruise promises Corden that he's not just an actor, but a pilot too, to which Corden retorts, "With all due respect, you played a lawyer in A Few Good Men , I wouldn't want you to represent me in court."

Through Corden's quips asking for the plane's Wi-Fi password and holding up a sign that reads "Help me," he laughs through much of the fear, mixed in with some blood-curdling screams.

As Cruise smiles for the duration of flight, in his element, he plays with Corden, taking him along for a dogfight with a neighboring plane, flying right over mountains and dropping at a 90-degree angle.

"The fact that this is your idea of a fun day out just tells me how different we are as human beings," a winded Corden says.

When the pair gets out of the plane and heads back to camp, Cruise reveals that the day is not yet over. They prepare for a second flight the way any high-intensity fighter pilots do: a game of slow-motion volleyball and a "You've Lost That Lovin Feelin" serenade.

"You're the first half of the film Goose," Cruise reassures Corden, comparing him to the Anthony Edwards Top Gun character before his death in the second half of the film.

The new Hollywood power duo ends their night in a tent, where Corden confesses, "Tom, if you kill me tomorrow, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life." Cruise replies, "James, if I kill you tomorrow, I'll be dead too."

When Corden and Cruise board the next plane, a much cushier, newer vehicle, the host seems to feel more at ease. Upon Corden's request, the action star says, "We'll just fly straight, just relax, just take it easy for a little bit" while he shakes his head at the camera. But Cruise doesn't hold out, nearing the plane to trees and cliffs and pulling off 360-degree loops and spins.

Finally done with the adventure, Corden seems relieved to be returning to the comfort of his studio: "You can be my wingman anytime," Cruise says. "You know what? I think I'm good," Corden replies with a laugh.

Hopefully for Corden's sake, Cruise won't sign him up for any other wild antics in his eighth and final season.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly 's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• James Corden leaving The Late Late Show in 2023
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James Corden Puts Life in Tom Cruise’s Hands Aboard ‘Top Gun’ Fighter Jet

Glen Powell Reveals Tom Cruise's Terrifying Prank That Had Him Fearing For His Life While Filming 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Emily blunt claims some on-screen kisses have made her want to throw up: "i've definitely not enjoyed some of it", in 'the fall guy,' ryan gosling and emily blunt give a perfect chemistry lesson, rebecca ferguson's co-stars called her after she dropped a blind item about one of them screaming on set: "you understand what you've done, right".

In honor of the highly-anticipated May 27 theatrical release of Top Gun: Maverick , James Corden had the action-drama film’s star, Tom Cruise , join him for a very special YouTube segment of  The Late Late Show With James Corden . What unfolded from there was an adventure whose thrills rivaled that of a  Top Gun   movie, and also probably gave the late night host a heart attack (or at the very least, a damp jumpsuit).

It all began with Corden waiting outside of the Burbank Airport, where Tom Cruise’s charter plane picked him up at 5 AM. “I feel like I’m being kidnapped,” the host said as their sojourn began, making it clear that he had no idea what lay in wait for the pair. By the time Cruise landed them in the middle of the desert, he explained that they were about to top (…gun) their shared experience parachuting out of an airplane by taking to the sky in a vintage little fighter plane worthy of Top Gun  itself.

“We’re gonna have a  Top Gun  day,” Cruise said, before clarifying that it would just be the two of them heading up in the small jet, and that he’d be piloting it himself.

“With all due respect, you played a lawyer in A Few Good Men , I wouldn’t want you to represent me in court,” Corden replied, clearly not freaky out. “I’m going to go up in a 75 year-old plane with someone that isn’t a pilot. Okay, yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Between Cruise’s explanation of what they’d do during an emergency protocol (“I’m just going to turn over, and I’m going to plop you out”), the emergence of a rival jet (“I don’t want to fight them, I’d like to go home, please”), and a training sequence so delightfully absurd that it’s a feat neither performer broke into fits of laughter (“This is reinforcing my belief that you don’t have a clue what you’re doing”), there’s a lot to love about this almost 15 minute clip (which you can watch above this article now) where Cruise is clearly having a blast (and looking good and impressive while doing it).

Ultimately, despite a healthy dose of terror from Corden (which Cruise clearly reveled in), both the late night host and actor took the highway to the danger zone and lived to tell the tale. And if Top Gun: Maverick  is even half as entertaining as that clip, then it’s definitely going to be a spirited, sky-high hit to remember.

Top Gun: Maverick  premieres in theaters on May 27.

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Tom Cruise & James Corden Jet Back Into The Sky In ‘The Late Late Show’ Aerial Stunt

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

The bromance between Tom Cruise and James Corden remains strong… and skybound.

The Top Gun: Maverick star persuaded The Late Late Show host to get back into another plane with him – four years after he encouraged him to jump out of one.

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Cruise picked up the Brit, who has revealed he was leaving the late-night world in April, for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the desert, piloting him in a vintage fighter plane for the afternoon.

“I’m very excited that James is doing this,” he says in the 15-minute segment. “Was he the first late-night show I asked? Hell, no. He was just the first one… the only one who said yes.”

Cruise and Corden end up in a dogfight in the classic plane.

Just when Corden thinks he’s survived, Cruise informs him the two will be going up again — this time in a jet fit for modern aerial warfare.

First, however, is the Top Gun training. “You are my Goose,” says Cruise. “When you say I am your Goose, it makes me feel excited and then I realize that Goose dies at the end of the film,” replies Corden.

Corden, who is better known for driving with celebrities in cars around LA rather than planes in the desert, and Cruise do get to bust out a few bars of Kenny Loggins’ classic Top Gun tune Danger Zone during their overnight campfire stay.

“This is crazy,” says Corden, not underplaying the situation, which makes for a perfect Late Late Show viral segment.

“You can be my wingman, anytime,” concludes Cruise as they disembark. “You know what? I think I’m good,” laughs Corden.

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Taking on Tom Cruise’s Top Gun jet trainer

As Top Gun: Maverick hit theatres this summer, a clip of British TV presenter James Corden of The Late Late Show flying with Tom Cruise to promote the blockbuster movie racked up more than 27 million views on YouTube.

Having joined Cruise in the Hollywood superstar’s personal P-51 Mustang, Corden’s next challenge was to experience flight in an L-39 jet trainer, again with ‘Maverick’ at the controls. The YouTube stunt was an instant hit, giving the public a brief but entertaining glimpse of what it’s like to fly military jets. The reality of flying the Aerovodochody L-39 Albatros surpasses even the screen version. Corden was elated after the trip, although also relieved to be back on the ground.

“The reality of flying the Aerovodochody L-39 Albatros surpasses even the screen version,” writes AeroTime’s Ben Griffiths. Image by Michael Jorgensen 

I’ve been privileged to fly the L-39 twice with a group of Dijon, France-based aviators who performed at airshows and offered experience flights under the Breitling watch brand up until 2019. Today, the team are known as ‘Apace Aviation’ and continue to operate the aircraft. The L-39 itself has been in operation for over 50 years, with more than 30 armed services flying the type, including the former Soviet and East German air forces.

Described as having excellent handling characteristics across the whole flight envelope, more than 2,800 examples were delivered worldwide, with some 300 in civilian hands today. Having made its first flight in 1968, the L-39 was designed as a successor to the earlier L-29 Delfin, with full-scale production beginning in 1972.

AeroTime’s Ben Griffiths recalls taking to the skies in the Aerovodochody L-39 Albatros. Image by Michael Jorgensen.

Pairing an efficient but powerful jet turbofan engine with a sleek, streamlined fuselage, the Albatros was built to deliver a strong but economical jet trainer for Warsaw Pact air forces. Easy to maintain, cheap to operate and highly reliable, the aircraft can operate from grass strips and semi-prepared airfields.

The one downside is the Albatros lacks power when compared with Western counterparts like the BAE Systems Hawk, chosen mount of the Red Arrows. But it looks good, is easy to fly and to maintain, is reliable and quite affordable to operate if you compare it with other military jets.

Given my logbook when I flew with the team had a mere 140 hours in it, and all on piston-engined, propeller aircraft, I had a sense of trepidation as to how a lowly private pilot would cope with the experience. I needn’t have worried. Team leader Jacque Bothelin and his fellow pilots were determined that I’d get to control, and enjoy, their airplane by trying my hand at jet formation flying, as well as riding along during a seven-aircraft aerobatic routine that would demonstrate the L-39’s full capabilities.

The L-39 has been in operation for over 50 years with more than 30 armed services. Image by Michael Jorgensen

Suited up in flying kit and helmet, the nerves were building as I was settling into my seat in the rear cockpit of Francois Ponsot’s aircraft. The team’s pilots are all highly experienced, mainly French air force and some ex-Patrouille de France – the French equivalent of the Red Arrows. With Ponsot – nicknamed ‘PonPon’ – I was in good hands. The maintainer strapping me in pointed out the various safety features of the jet, but my heart jumped a beat when he explained the ejection seat, which would propel me clear of the stricken airplane should disaster strike. Removing the safety pins, I was now sitting atop a rocket. That does wonders for your concentration.

Looking around the cockpit to familiarize myself helped me to relax. The battleship grey instrument panel and dials were simple and basic, similar to most trainers I’ve flown, aside from the chunkier switches and prominent stick and throttle controls. The canopy closing with a clunk brought my attention back to the outside world as PonPon began the starting sequence.

The L-39 uses a small motor to spool up the fan of the main engine and get it to operating speed before fuel is added and the jet bursts into life. A muffled roar can be heard from inside the cockpit – outside I knew a veritable tornado was now searing the air in a cacophony of noise.

The one downside is the Albatros lacks power when compared with Western counterparts. Image by Michael Jorgensen.

As our wingmen checked in on the radio as being ready to launch, PonPon released the brakes, and we began our slow trundle towards the active runway. Soon we were all lined up and ready to go. Our jet sat in the number 2 position to the left of the leader in the first element of three aircraft. The remaining four were in a diamond shape behind us on the runway. With a distinct nod of the head, Bothelin signaled the takeoff and our jets surged forward as one, thudding over the gaps in the concrete runway at Dijon with increasing speed until that delightful moment when the wheels left the earth, and the aircraft take to the wing.

This was followed by a heavy clump, clump as the wheels retracted into their bays and we accelerated away from the airport. Our lead element was rapidly joined by the other four jets. PonPon called: “Look left”, and outside another wingman slid effortlessly into position and stayed locked there as if glued in place. My fellow passengers were grinning away, like me barely able to comprehend what their eyes were seeing. Your first taste of formation jet aerobatics is truly sensational. The power and sense of freedom is overwhelming. We were bobbing along in the leader’s slipstream. I felt I could almost touch his jet and feel the air streaming over the wings.

A short transit to the team’s training area and we began the aerobatic sequence with a series of wingovers and formation changes. I was barely prepared for the onset of ‘G’ – the gravitational pull that loads up the body with additional forces and can easily lead to blacking out if you’re not ready, as the blood is pushed towards your feet and away from the brain. I was looking over my left shoulder as we pulled 4.5G – I was now 4.5 times my normal bodyweight – and my head was uncomfortably pinned in place.

The Albatross has an efficient but powerful jet turbofan engine and a sleek, streamlined fuselage. Image by Michael Jorgensen.

Easing off the ‘G’ briefly, I determined to keep looking straight ahead during the routine, as we dived down to begin a loop, describing a perfect circle in the sky. Pulling firmly back on the controls, PonPon steered us skyward, the aircraft becoming inverted before diving back down to our starting position to complete the loop.

Our routine was soon over and PonPon invited me to take the controls. At this point I felt like James Corden must have done, seriously out of my depth. But, with PonPon’s expert instruction, I was soon making a reasonable fist of remaining in position with frequent but tiny adjustments to throttle and stick, chasing the aircraft in front and to the side as I fought hard to stay in formation.

After enjoying this for a while, PonPon took back control and our element slipped down into low level for our transit back to Dijon. The jet was bumping around over the fields of rural France, akin to driving over a rutted road. Fighter pilots fly low to avoid enemy radar, just as they did in their F/A-18s in Top Gun: Maverick when attacking the enemy missile site. We were doing it just for fun and the sensation of speed was sensational.

Making our approach to land back at the airport, the team lined up for a formation run-in-and-break in classic military style. This not only looks good but is designed to position the jets for landing, adequately spaced out but also to slow down to approach speed.

Having enjoyed flying with the team and been impressed by their skills, I was not the least surprised that our touchdown was silky smooth. The L-39 gliding down to kiss the runway, with the nose kept high for aerodynamic braking. The nosewheel dropped and we coasted back to our parking spots outside the team’s HQ building.

The canopy opened and the fresh air blasting into the cockpit reawakened my senses. It was pleasant to remove my helmet and just sit in the cockpit for a while to listen to the gyro instruments winding down and to contemplate what I’d just experienced. 

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Tom Cruise Created a Flight-Training Program for Top Gun: Maverick

Along with his deep ties to Scientology , Tom Cruise is also known for his commitment to real stunts. So it should come as no surprise he wanted the actors in Top Gun: Maverick to actually deliver their lines from the cockpits of moving F/A-18 planes. “I wasn’t ready to make a sequel until we had a special story worthy of a sequel and until technology evolved so we could delve deeper into the experience of a fighter pilot,” Cruise said in a promotional video for the movie.

Without proper preparation, however, g-forces exerted on the body by acceleration can result in illness or a dangerous loss of consciousness. To combat that, he personally designed a rigorous monthlong program that introduced his co-stars to different jets and instructors as they learned to fly and slowly built up their g-force tolerance. According to Men’s Health , the aspiring aviators eventually had to sustain up to eight g’s, or around 1,600 pounds of pressure. The cast — including Monica Barbaro, Glen Powell, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Miles Teller, and Lewis Pullman — filled out daily forms for Cruise to review until they were ready for real Navy pilots to take them up in F/A-18s equipped with six IMAX-quality cameras. (The Pentagon reportedly does not allow nonmilitary personnel to operate F/A-18s.) From puking to getting personalized feedback, here’s what Cruise’s co-stars have described going through during the Top Gun training made by “Maverick” himself.

Miles Teller (Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw)

“Nothing bonds a cast together more than collective suffering,” Teller said in the Cannes production notes for Top Gun: Maveric k. “I think, when you’re going through something and you know how tough it is yourself, and you look to the left of you and to the right of you and you see that person going through it, it kind of pushes you a little harder and further than you would normally go. It’s so unique for us that we will only be able to talk about this with each other for the rest of our lives.” Ahhh, trauma bonding.

Teller explained to Men’s Journal that all the elements of Cruise’s training, even breathing techniques, were utilized during the final sequences shot in the F/A-18s. “Every single day of the shoot we were really getting after it,” he said. “Up until the very last day people were fainting and puking.” In fact, Teller told London Live that he personally felt like vomiting every time he went in the air. “It’s funny,” he said, pausing to chuckle with the interviewer. After a moment, however, he added, “Wasn’t so funny for me.”

Monica Barbaro (Lt. Natasha “Phoenix” Trace)

In the Cannes production notes , Barbaro credited Cruise’s training program with preparing her not only to act in the planes but also turn cameras on and off, check makeup, fix props, and communicate with pilots. She explained to The Wrap that Cruise’s “perfect” training program also included minute-by-minute rehearsals with a pilot in a fake plane so that actors could plan when to say their lines. “It was pretty intense,” she said. “We got to watch Tom do it a few times. I was the first person of us pilots to do it. I was the guinea pig.” And while the cast had to go through all the rigorous flight training before even stepping on set, per the New York Daily News , Barbaro made it clear that the work continued during the ten-month shoot. “If we ever had a day off from filming, we would be sent over to the airport to go fly … to keep sustaining Gs,” she said. “It would’ve been a huge disservice to get out of shape.”

Lewis Pullman (Lt. Robert “Bob” Floyd)

Pullman didn’t mince words when it came to describing the experience of g-forces. “It felt like you had an elephant sit on top of you,” he told the Daily News . “You’re trying to keep all the blood to your brain so you don’t pass out, and you’re trying to remember your lines and you’re trying to look cool doing it.” Or as he later put it to The Ringer , “It’s sort of like your spine is sliding back into the chair and a rhinoceros just popped a squat on your lap.”

Pullman said that Cruise’s training regimen condensed two years of flight training into three months, covering everything Cruise wished he’d been taught on the original Top Gun. According to Pullman, one of the planes used during training actually allowed the cast to pull more g’s than needed for the final shoot. “So if we could master that without a G-suit, once we got up in the F-18s, it would be like we had been running with weights on,” he explained.

He was also impressed by the tailored feedback that came with the program. Initially, Pullman said, the cast thought that no one was reading the evaluation forms they were asked to fill out every day. “But whenever we saw Tom, he would come up to us and say, ‘Hey man, I saw that on your last flight you had a little trouble pulling zero Gs. Here’s what I do,’” Pullman recalled. “It was like, ‘Holy smokes, Tom Cruise is taking the time out of his jam-packed day to give me personal tips.’”

Danny Ramirez (Lt. Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia)

In an interview with Men’s Health , Ramirez called the intensive training program “the Tom Cruise School of Being a Badass.” He added that logging more than 40 hours of flight time “pulling mad Gs” taught him “the art of puking and rallying.” Before he shot Top Gun: Maverick , Ramirez apparently had never known how to recover after vomiting. “So in a confined space, and to be able to push through it, I was very proud of it,” he told The Ringer. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to be cut out of this movie.’” He also shared his admiration for his co-stars who were going through the same training, noting that Barbaro “for sure never puked,” despite pulling the most g’s on the EA-300. “But Lewis [Pullman] has the most grit of anyone I’ve ever met,” Ramirez recalled. “He was going to puke and instead said, ‘Not today,’ and swallowed it all back down.”

Jay Ellis (Lt. Reuben “Payback” Fitch)

“Flying commercial is boring now,” Ellis said when TMZ stopped him, appropriately, outside of LAX. He told the A.V. Club that Cruise’s commitment to reading everyone’s daily questionnaires was humbling. The cast submitted responses on a computer that were then sent to Cruise. “The next day you would get an email from Tom,” Ellis recalled. “And he would say, ‘Hey, I read your questions last night. Going to add a few more days to your flight training. Does next week work for you?’” But Ellis’s training takeaways weren’t limited to aviation. According to Ellis’s interview with Men’s Health , Cruise taught him to keep viewers engaged by being conscious of camera movements, which he later brought to his roles on Mrs. America and season four of Insecure . The skill seems like it’d be useful on any set, but especially so on Top Gun: Maverick, given that director Joseph Kosinski estimated that every 60 to 70 minutes of acting in the sky translated to a mere minute of usable footage.

Greg Tarzan Davis (Lt. Javy “Coyote” Machado)

Davis told The Ringer that he lied during his audition for Top Gun: Maverick and said that he was not afraid of heights. As you might expect, that meant he had some fears to face when it came to flight training. But according to the cast, the training was set up to explain the mechanics and physics of what would happen on the plane before they took flight. “Tom makes sure you feel comfortable with it, then he lets the instructors do what they need to do,” Davis said.

Still, he faced his own physical challenges while in the air taking g’s. In addition to g-forces distorting his face so much that it looked like the life in his body “drained out,” he struggled with motion sickness. Due to the camera setup, he could not look at the horizon to settle his stomach. “You have to look inside the cockpit — that makes you even sicker,” he said. Like his fellow onscreen pilots, Davis also praised Cruise for actively responding to the training questionnaires in hopes of improving the learning experience. “He’s like the greatest Yelp reviewer ever,” Davis said.

Glenn Powell (Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin)

At CinemaCon , Powell explained that Cruise put together the training program so that his co-stars wouldn’t be puking or passing out in government assets. “Half the shots in this movie, I’m literally holding a bag of my puke,” he admitted, noting that pulling g’s was incredibly painful. “Every time we went up there you have to mentally brace for a fight,” he said. “You get on the ground and you’re exhausted. That’s what’s impressive about Tom. He’s flying more than anyone in the movie — he would fly three times a day.” Powell told The Ringer that breathing in the face masks for pilots required pushing out and sucking in air nearly to the point of hyperventilation. Cast members also had to learn to do a flexing maneuver to keep blood from rushing away from the brain and to the legs. But whenever the said maneuver was executed incorrectly? “You can see the tunnel start to close in and you’re like, ‘Oh no,’” Powell said. “You just try to keep pushing blood back in your head so you don’t black out.”

Still, with Cruise in the lead, the training program was inspiring to his younger co-stars. According to Powell, the seasoned actor gave “all the young guns” on the film an iPad with Ground School, which would allow them to study to become pilots in real life. “I started flying on my own, and Tom was with me every step of the way,” Powell said. “After I got my private pilot’s license, there was a note waiting for me on the ground from Tom that said, ‘Welcome to the Skies.’”

• top gun: maverick
• on the record
• monica barbaro
• glen powell
• greg tarzan davis
• danny ramirez
• miles teller
• lewis pullman

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How Tom Cruise Did That Insane Plane Stunt For Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

The first full trailer for Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation ends with quite a bang, and a stunt that easily rivals the Burj Khalifa sequence in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol . The sight of Ethan Hunt hanging on to the side of taking-off airplane is an unbelievable one to behold - and it's only made more impressive when you remember that Tom Cruise actually performed the real stunt himself. But how did this stunt actually get done? The star and director Christopher McQuarrie have revealed all in a recent interview.

Timed with the release of the new trailer, Yahoo! UK has posted an extended interview they did with both Cruise and McQuarrie, in which the two men discuss the details behind what looks to be Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 's biggest spectacle sequence. Apparently the idea of riding on the side of a plane is something that the actor has been thinking about doing for a while, and he describes it as "undoubtedly the most dangerous thing [he's] ever done." He and his Mission: Impossible 5 director knew that they needed to top what Ghost Protocol brought to the table, and it was McQuarrie who ultimately brought the idea to the table for the blockbuster. The filmmaker explained,

While searching for different locations, the production designer James Bissell bought me a model of this Airbus airplane and presented it as something we could use in the movie. I suggested to Tom, ‘What if you were on the outside of this thing when it took off?' I meant it as sort of a half joke, but he said back to me, ‘Yeah I could do that!’

From there it was all about figuring out a way to attach a camera to the side of the airplane that would A) get an appropriate angle on the shot, and B) not detach during take-off and smash into Tom Cruise. The actor met with not just a test pilot, but the guys who created the A400m Airbus, and made sure that everything was doable and safe.

You can watch the incredible stunt performed at the end of the trailer embedded below:

So what was the biggest fear in this situation? While many of you might guess that it would be Cruise losing his grip and falling, apparently that wasn't the case. Instead, the larger concern during shooting was bird strikes and random debris flying through the air. As Cruise told the site,

I remember one time we were going down the runway and there was just a little particle that just hit me, it was smaller than a finger nail. I was thankful it didn’t hit my hands or face, if it did I’d have a problem because those parts were exposed, but it still could have broken my ribs!

Perhaps the most impressive part of all this is that the airplane ride won't be Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 's only breathtaking sequence. In the interview, Christopher McQuarrie teases that this death-defying stunt is actually one of two "incredibly physically punishing things" that he had Tom Cruise do for the movie, and that the other one is merely teased in the above trailer. I'm sure when we see the finished film it will stand out from the pack and we'll recognize exactly which stunt the director is being alluded to (I'm personally hoping it's the dive into the sand vortex).

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation will be in theaters on July 31st.

CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER

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Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE

Tom cruise hangs on to a flying airbus (really) in the next mission impossible.

He wore a safety harness, but that’s really him on a real aircraft, 5,000 feet off the real ground.

This is not what we usually mean by “flying standby.”

The recently-unveiled trailer for the summertime action extravaganza Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation builds to a shot of what is presumably the movie’s blue-chip stunt: Star (and producer) Tom Cruise hot-foots his way across the wing of a taxiing Airbus A400M, then grabs hold of the military airlifter and holds on for dear life as it takes off and climbs, the ground beneath him falling away like taillights in a rearview mirror.

As with the prior instances of gravity-defiance in the five-film-deep, 19-year-old franchise—most notably, a stroll up the side of the world’s tallest building in 2011’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol —the aircraft-hang is no greenscreen-enabled illusion. It’s a genuine feat of (meticulously planned and rehearsed) derring-do by Cruise, now 52 years old but determined to maintain his much-publicized habit of keeping stunt doubles in the unemployment line. 

In an interview with Yahoo! Movies last week, Cruise and Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie discussed the genesis and execution of the set piece, which was shot at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, England, last November. Preparation involved the creation of a special frame to mount a camera under the wing of the airlifter and withstand wind resistance, as well as a pair of full-eyeball contact lenses for Cruise so that he could open his eyes while the aircraft was in flight. As the actor told Yahoo! Movies :

The things we were all very concerned about were particles on the runway and bird strikes. We spent days clearing out the nearby grass of any birds, and they brushed the runway as best they could. My stunt coordinator would poke me if he got reports of bird strikes. The pilot had to be on the lookout for anything in the air that could impact me in any way. I also was testing how to keep my eyes open so you have a shot—I can’t have my eyes closed the entire time. The thing that no one else was thinking about, but I was, was the fuel. You have jet fuel coming right out of the back at me because I’m on the wing above the engine. Even when we were taxiing, I was also inhaling the fumes and they were going in my eyes.

Because the script called for Cruise’s character to wear a tailored gray suit, there was no protection from the cold at 5,000 feet. He performed the stunt eight times before he and McQuarrie were satisfied they had enough footage to create a thrilling action sequence.

The movie’s first poster features an image of the airplane-hang in progress. When it was unveiled, I wondered why a military cargo airplane would have a suspiciously-handhold-sized lattice on its side. The piece of equipment Cruise is holding onto, prominently visible in this Daily Mail photo gallery , is a “deployable baffle,” intended to give paratroops an instant to get clear of the massive aircraft when jumping before they’re caught in the Jetstream.  Airbus’ website notes the A400M—a four-engine turboprop design that had its first flight in 2009—can be configured to carry up to 116 paratroops. Dispersing that many soldiers quickly would likely necessitate the use of the cargo ramp as well as the spoiler-protected paratroop doors on either side of the fuselage.

While the stunt represents Cruise’s first flight, or eight flights, on the outside of an aircraft, he’s held a pilot’s license since 1994, according to Forbes contributor Matthew Stibbe. The star’s personal fleet includes a World War II-era P-51 Mustang. No pilot license is required for PC users to download Airbus ’ A400M — The Game .  I’m using a Mac, so I can’t tell you whether or not the game includes a level where you must try to shake off an unusually determined secret agent who’s fixed himself to the side of your airplane.

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Tom Cruise's looks 'could kill' in heated debate during live interview

We all know Tom Cruise, whether we love him, hate him, or love to hate him, interviews and news stories are never short of his controversial opinions on religion and romance. We revisit an interview from 2005 where Tom Cruise gets into a heated discussion with Matt Lauer about Psychiatry, Brooke Shields, and medication.

Tom Cruise has reached infamy in more ways than one. At 61, this Hollywood legend has starred in hit movies spanning five decades. Recently revisiting his 80’s classic Top Gun, and continuous new reboots of Mission Impossible , the actor has zero plans to retire from Hollywood just yet. In 2005, Cruise starred in Steven Speilburg’s War of the Worlds alongside sweetheart Dakota Fanning. It seems the pair have remained close friends since, with Cruise never forgetting his co-star’s birthday! We revisit an interview with Tom Cruise during the promotion of this film, in which he and host Matt Lauer engage in a very heated discussion.

The Hollywood feud

Back in 2005, Tom Cruise was madly in love with actress Katie Holmes, and the world knew about it. From his infamous jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch, to this interview with NBC news presenter Matt Lauer, Tom is literally beaming ear to ear.

During the Matt Lauer interview, Holmes waits backstage, while Tom Cruise gushes: “It’s a great time in my life. I’m really happy, I’m engaged, I’m going to be married, and I can’t restrain myself.”

Lauer asks Cruise how he copes with so much of his personal life being in the headlines, to which he responds: “There’s always cynics, always has been, always will be. I have never worried about what other people think and what other people say.”

・ SHOCKING: Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible costar addresses ‘dirty’ romance rumors

One of the many reasons the Top-Gun star was in the headlines during 2005, was due to a very publicized feud between him and actress Brooke Shields. Brooke, now 57, opened up in 2005 about her struggles with postpartum depression. The mother of two, revealed following the birth of her daughter, Rowan Henchy she had fallen into a “deep-depression” and sought treatment through taking anti-depressants. Cruise accused the star of spreading “irresponsible misinformation.”

Tom Cruise’s conversation becomes heated in Matt Lauer interview

During a Today Show interview with Matt Lauer the topic of discussion moves swiftly from Cruise’s latest movie, War of the Worlds, to the Brooke Shields controversy. When host Lauer asks Tom about his views on psychiatry, the actor refers to psychiatry as a “pseudoscience”.

“I have never agreed with psychiatry, ever, before I was a Scientologist I didn’t agree with psychiatry,” the Mission Impossible star states.

At this point the interview becomes more heated, Cruise appears agitated in mannerisms and tone as he accuses Lauer of “not having all the facts”. Firm in his beliefs, Cruise talks about his extensive research into these topics claiming, “there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance” and that people should not be medicated for mental health reasons.

Lauer raises with Cruise the Brooke Shields incident, while Tom defends that he cares for Shields, describing her as a “wonderful and talented woman” who he wants to “do well”. He can’t help but to continue to reaffirm his belief in her ‘ignorance’.

“The thing that I’m saying about Brooke is that there’s misinformation,” Cruise continues. “She doesn’t understand the history of psychiatry.”

While host Matt Lauer challenges Cruise on the issue, he controversially responds: “I disagree with it. She doesn’t know what these drugs are, and for her to promote it is irresponsible.”

If you are affected by any issues raised in the article or would like someone to speak to, please call the Samaritans for free on 116 123. You can also email them at [email protected] or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch in the UK. In the US, please visit Samaritans USA for more information.

You can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text 741741 to get in touch with the Crisis Text Line. Americans can now call or text 988 to reach out and speak to a counselor.

・ HEARTBREAK: Nicole Kidman’s former flame ‘left heartbroken’ when she ‘left him’ for Tom Cruise

The post Tom Cruise's looks 'could kill' in heated debate during live interview appeared first on Celebrity Tidbit .

‘Interview With the Vampire’ Director on Casting Tom Cruise Over Daniel Day-Lewis and the Backlash That Followed: ‘The Entire World’ Said ‘You Are Miscast’

When Neil Jordan ‘s “ Interview With the Vampire ” film adaptation released in 1994, Tom Cruise was already a worldwide star. He had led the highly successful “Risky Business” and “Top Gun” and received an Oscar nomination for “Born on the Fourth of July.” But, not everyone was convinced he could play the titular vampire, Lestat de Lioncourt, and his casting caused a considerable amount of backlash among fans of Anne Rice’s original book.

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After meeting with Cruise twice at his house in Brentwood, Jordan realized that the actor actually had a lot in common with Lestat, something that made him sure of his decision.

“I finally got it,” Jordan wrote. “He had to live a life removed from the gaze of others. He had made a contract with the hidden forces, whatever they turned out to be. He had to hide in the shadows, even in the Hollywood sunlight. He would be eternally young. He was a star. He could well be Lestat.”

Jordan noted that Cruise is “also a superb actor,” but “that small fact got lost in the outrage that followed.”

“Half of America, it seemed, had read Anne Rice’s books and wanted a say in the casting of Lestat,” he continued. “Anne herself took to the airwaves, saying that it was as if I had cast Edward G Robinson as Rhett Butler. But she was wrong and was later big enough to admit it.”

“The entire world said, ‘You are miscast,’” Jordan said. “He’s a great actor. If he says he can do something, he will do it in a way that people will be shocked by. Tom has become the last remaining film star. It’s kind of strange.”

Pitt, who joined the film straight after “Legends of the Fall,” was exhausted by the night shoots and the character’s nature, Jordan said. “It simply wore him out. Brad’s a very active guy, that was the direction he wanted to go in. The passivity of the character got him down.”

Jordan’s next film is “The Well of Saint Nobody,” adapted from the director’s acclaimed 2023 novel of the same name.

Jordan’s “Amnesiac: A Memoir” will be published by Head of Zeus on June 20.

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Tom Cruise Dances and Grins at Taylor Swift Eras Tour Show in London

By Eve Batey

It seemed impossible to top the star power at Friday’s Taylor Swift show at Wembley Stadium, but that was before Tom Cruise —Mr. Impossible , himself—showed up on Saturday at the second London stop in the billionaire singer’s Eras Tour. And Cruise wasn’t the only big name at Saturday’s Swift show, as Hugh Grant , Princess Olivia of Greece , Greta Gerwig , and a number of other stars packed the stadium’s VIP area as Swift sang—and threw shade—from the stage.

Cruise has reportedly lived in London since 2021, making his presence at this show (as opposed to one in, say, LA or New York) less brow-raising than it might otherwise be. And yet, it still feels surprising (did you know he was a Swiftie? I sure didn’t!) that he was there , and that he arrived—as numerous users of social media noted—with a Swift fans' now-familiar handful of DIY friendship bracelets that he traded with his fellow VIPers. Did Tom Cruise make his own friendship bracelets for this thing? Wouldn’t it be wild if he did? ( Vanity Fair reached out to a Cruise representative for more information on his Swift interest, but has not received a response as of publication time.)

Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Wembley Stadium on June 22, 2024, in London, England, UK.

The 61-year-old star was seemingly good-natured even when a huge man in the tent grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him about, as was captured in footage shared by fans . It helps, perhaps, that the big guy was Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce , who is also known as Swift’s boyfriend and/or the guy the royal family didn’t want a selfie with the night before.

Actor Hugh Grant, who was also at Saturday’s show, was similarly struck by Kelce’s size and charm. Via X (formerly Twitter), the 63-year-old Grant wrote of his Saturday night concert experience, “Dear @taylorswift13, You have an incredible show, an amazing and v hospitable team and excellent if gigantic boyfriend (#tequilashots.). Thanks so much from one ageing London boy, wife and thrilled 8 year old #halfgirlhalfbracelet." It's a tweet that leaves this correspondent wondering what seemed less likely likely a decade ago: the star of Eyes Wide Shut playing with beaded bracelets, or the star of Four Weddings and a Funeral using hashtags?

By Chris Murphy

By Savannah Walsh

Other luminaries at the show included Barbie director Greta Gerwig, who danced shoulder-to-shoulder with Cruise and Kelce; Danny Masterson apologists Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher ; and YA dystopia poster boys Liam Hemsworth and Theo James , among many others.

But the drama wasn’t just in the VIP tent, as Swift went a bit off script to celebrate the crowd, as well as slam her enemies, footage posted to social media shows . As she transitioned into the acoustic portion of her set, Swift said, “I was thinking about getting to play Wembley Stadium. That’s not remotely normal [and] it is so insane for you to [have] done that for me … and for my crew because we get to play Wembley Stadium eight times this summer,” she said, a reference to the Era Tour’s return to England in August.

“You clearly thought this was a good idea [and] you wanted this to happen. Blows me away. I’ll spend forever trying to thank you for that.”

“On the other hand,” Swift continued, “it really makes me think about how every time someone talks shit, it just makes me work even harder and it makes me even tougher. So, it also makes me incredibly thankful for those people.” Swift then launched into “thanK you aIMee,” a song from The Tortured Poets Department widely believed to be a dig at Kim Kardashian , a Swift nemesis since 2006 .

Swift has one more show at Wembley Stadium on Sunday night, and then it’s off to Aviba Stadium in Dublin for a three-show stand from Friday, June 18 to Sunday, June 30.

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Top gun 3: confirmation, cast & everything we know about the maverick sequel.

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The latest top gun 3 news, top gun 3 is confirmed, top gun 3 cast, top gun 3 story.

• Top Gun 3: Further News & Info
• Top Gun 3 is confirmed, and the success of Top Gun: Maverick is perhaps the biggest reason for the third film.
• While the cast for Top Gun 3 is uncertain, Tom Cruise will return as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell with Miles Teller as Hangman and Glen Powell as Rooster.
• No details about the story have been revealed, but it could see the Top Gun team flying to prove they are better than drone pilots.

Top Gun 3 was an inevitability after Tom Cruise's triumphant return in Top Gun: Maverick, and the future of the Top Gun franchise and a third movie is becoming clearer. 36 years after Top Gun became a cultural phenomenon Tom Cruise reprised one of his most iconic roles, Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, in Top Gun: Maverick . Maverick reignited the audience's passion for Captain Pete Mitchell, and the demand for Top Gun 3 was instant.

Top Gun: Maverick's cast brought Captain Mitchell back to Fightertown, USA, to train a new generation of pilots claiming to be "the best of the best." With breathtaking aerial photography and steeped in nostalgia for the original Top Gun, Maverick brought Pete Mitchell into the modern era full throttle. Top Gun: Maverick performed swimmingly at the box office, being one of the biggest breakout hits of 2022 and making $1.4 billion worldwide. Despite this, Top Gun 3 wasn't rushed into production, and it has taken until 2024 to hear any real news.

Top Gun 2: All 6 Jet Fighter Planes That Appear In Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick put Tom Cruise back in the cockpit after three decades, but which specific jet fighter planes appear in the followup to Top Gun?

Jerry Bruckheimer Hints At An Uncertain Timeline

Not long after the project was officially announced, the latest update comes as producer Jerry Bruckheimer offers an uncertain timeline for Top Gun 3 . The legendary producer behind both the original film and Top Gun: Maverick Bruckheimer spoke candidly about the challenges of making Top Gun 3 with star Tom Cruise's busy schedule . Cruise is still one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood, and his return for the third film is necessary if not a bit of an impediment. Read Bruckheimer's full comments below:

It's hard to tell. You don't know, you really don't know. You don't know how they come together. You just don't know. Because with Top Gun you have an actor who is iconic and brilliant. And how many movies he does before he does Top Gun, I can't tell you.

Tom Cruise is currently working on Mission: Impossible 8 and it isn't clear if there are any other projects on his schedule before he can return for Top Gun 3 .

The Classic '80s Franchise Returns Again

While speculation about the sequel has been high since the film was such a box-office juggernaut, Top Gun 3 wasn't officially confirmed until January 2024. However, the confirmation was also accompanied by news of Tom Cruise's return as Pete Mitchell , further proof that the sequel would be on the way soon.

Stream Top Gun: Maverick on Amazon Prime Video, MGM+, and Paramount+.

Tom Cruise Will Return For The Third Movie

While most of the cast of Top Gun 3 is still under wraps, early news suggests that the ensemble of Maverick may return en masse . When the sequel was announced in January 2024, it was revealed that Tom Cruise would reprise his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, quelling rumors that he wouldn't be involved with the third film. Additionally, it was revealed that Cruise would be joined by his Maverick co-stars Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw and Glen Powell as Lt. Jake 'Hangman' Seresin.

The rest of the returning cast might include:

Does Top Gun: Maverick Set Up A Sequel?

Top Gun: Maverick's ending didn't explicitly set up a third movie, but it also didn't need to for a sequel to work. The Top Gun 3 story will inevitably feature a new mission that requires Maverick and the other pilots, and the specific details will be secondary to what it means for the development of their characters. However, Maverick did plant a seed for a potential new story because Admiral Cain planned to replace human pilots with a drone armada. Perhaps Top Gun 3 would pit Maverick and other human pilots against Cain's drones to prove that man is superior to a machine.

What would make this story even better is a Top Gun reunion. As previously mentioned, most of the crew didn't come back for Top Gun 2 , so a battle against the machines sets up the perfect reunion story for Top Gun 3 . Top Gun 3 could see the original fighter pilot team reuniting to prove that men fly better than machines, and it would be a satisfying tribute to the original movie. Needless to say, the storyline that sees replacing human pilots with drones will probably be a part of Top Gun 3 's setup, but it'll be interesting to see in what capacity.

Top Gun 3: Further News & Info

• Top Gun 3's Surprise Announcement Got Excited Reactions From Maverick Pilots
• Top Gun 3 Reportedly In Development, Tom Cruise & 2 Maverick Stars To Return
• Top Gun 3's Potential Cyclone Return Gets Confident Response From Jon Hamm (With 1 Caveat)
• How Glen Powell Is Approaching Top Gun 3 Differently After Real-Life Blue Angels Experience
• Upcoming Releases

'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning' Director Christopher McQuarrie Ranks Tom Cruise's Most "Terrifying" Stunts

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Director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise are a power duo in cinema, no doubt. Between collaborating together on last year’s blockbuster sequel, Top Gun: Maverick , and buzz about working on the first film to shoot in space , Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is just one of their many cinematic ambitions. While it may not be in space, McQuarrie’s new Mission movie does provide Cruise with ample opportunity to execute some more gnarly stunts, and Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke with the filmmaker to find out what exactly that planning process looks like.

Dead Reckoning Part One takes IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) to beautiful locations on a deadly new mission to obtain a powerful weapon before it can fall into the wrong hands. This time, Hunt will have to confront the possibility that the mission comes before everything else — even those closest to him. The movie also stars Hayley Atwell , Rebecca Ferguson , Shea Whigham , Esai Morales , Simon Pegg , Cary Elwes , and more.

While the previous Mission: Impossible installments featured Cruise performing his own death-defying stunts , we were curious which ones ranked highest on McQuarrie’s list, as far as nerves go. In their one-on-one, which you can watch or read below, the filmmaker explains what the discussion around these stunts looks like during production, the precautions taken, and why none of them are without risk. We also learn which stunt, since helming Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation , gave McQuarrie the most grief and why. Despite Part One seeing Cruise riding a motorcycle off the side of a cliff and freefalling through the air, McQuarrie also tells us that there will be sequences in Part Two that will be “beyond anything” we’ve seen to this point.

COLLIDER: I really want to start with a sincere congratulations. I loved the movie. I wish I could watch Part Two, like, tomorrow.

CHRISTOPHER MCQUARRIE: Me too. [Laughs]

So you and Tom [Cruise], in the Mission: Impossible movies, have done incredible stunts and we all know Tom does these things, they're incredibly difficult, they're risking his life. In terms of all the stunts that you've worked with Tom on, how would you rank the difficulty of the stunts for the Missions and how nervous you were watching Tom do them?

MCQUARRIE: They all have their own risks, and it's not always what you perceive the risk to be. For example, with the A400, the concern was less that Tom would fall off the plane than he would be hit by a rock on the runway or a bird when we were in mid-air. So there's all of these different factors and variables that you're constantly thinking about that could go wrong outside of all the variables that you've eliminated. The more variables, the scarier the stunt. I think that's kind of, to me, what makes it terrifying is how many different ways Tom could be killed doing the stunt, but they're all knowns. They're all things that you've thought about and can't control.

Going off that ramp, he was entering the unknown. We had eliminated everything we possibly could. We just didn't know what would actually happen when he did it because we could, in no way, shape or form, test or replicate those conditions anywhere else. So when he went off that ramp, we didn't know what was going to happen. We didn't know if the bike would get away from him, we didn't know if a crosswind would tangle him up, and we didn't know if the drone would hit him based on the environment that we were in. So once we called “action,” you had to hold your breath until the parachute opened. That was pretty terrifying.

I do want to bring in all the Missions you've worked on. What I'm curious about is how would you rank all the set pieces that you've worked on. What are your top three or top five in terms of level of difficulty and how nervous you are before Tom did them?

MCQUARRIE: I would say they probably go in chronological order. Only because when we were doing Rogue Nation and we were doing the A400, it was really my first time directing anything like that. It was obviously Tom's first time doing anything like that. And everything you are seeing, every movie you're watching, is Tom and I applying our knowledge from the previous movies to the next one and pushing it a little bit further. So the motorcycle jump in this film, for example, is taking all of the motorcycle stunts from Rogue Nation , taking the BASE jumping from Fallout , and applying them to the same stunt. They're all just, in order of magnitude, scarier. If you just follow them in order, each one is scarier for me and more of an unknown because we're just pushing ourselves that much further. And I can tell you there's stuff coming in [ Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two ] that is beyond anything we've done.

For me personally, the scariest thing we ever did was the helicopter chase in Fallout , for the simple fact that I had to be in a helicopter chasing after Tom [laughs]. So there's the added factor of my own life [being] at risk. When you're watching Tom go off the bike ramp, I'm there, I'm definitely watching my life flash before my eyes as well as his, but I also know in the event of anything terrible, I'm still going to be there. So I would have to say probably number one scariest, most stressful was the helicopter chase in Fallout just because I was there.

Tom risks his life, for real, making these movies.

MCQUARRIE: Yes.

Have you guys ever had a conversation or talked about…god forbid?

MCQUARRIE: That's definitely a specter in every single one of those conversations, but that's a reality in simple things. In Jack Reacher , a shot where Rosamund Pike was backing out of a parking spot with a camera over her shoulder, and revealing Tom standing in front of her, she went to drive away. That's a very dangerous stunt. That's an extremely dangerous stunt. Because Rosamund Pike, who is not an experienced stunt driver, could make one simple mistake, hit the accelerator instead of the gas, and that's lights out. So we treat everything the exact same way. In the stunt where he broke his ankle in Fallout , jumping from building to building, there are a million variables where something could go wrong. We have an expression we repeat all the time, which is, “Don't be careful, be competent.” You can't make these movies without taking risks and without doing extremely dangerous things. But you could be very, very, very smart and very, very considered about the way you do it.

The other thing that's really critical whenever we're doing it is I deputize the crew down to camera operators, focus pullers, anyone can yell, “cut.” If you see something wrong, you can stop the movie, it's not worth doing. And we don't want a culture where people are thinking, “I felt something was wrong, but I didn't think it was my place to say.” So there's a huge bubble that everybody is participating in, that everybody is aware of, just to make those things safer. But yeah, we think about that all the time, but you can't factor it into your planning. It's that thing of, I was watching a video recently where someone was saying, “If you're skiing through the woods and you're saying, ‘don't hit the trees, don't hit the trees,’ all you're thinking about is the trees.” You really have to be thinking, “Stay on the trail, stay on the trail,” and that's what we do. It's just, how do you do it safely? Just safety, safety, safety.

You know I like talking about editing and runtimes and all that stuff, so I'll just bring it in now. The movie’s like 2.5 hours, maybe a few minutes over. Did you have a much longer cut?

MCQUARRIE: Oh, yes. Yes, very, very long, but that's not unusual. I think probably every movie I've done has been– Your first assembly is close to three hours.

I don't even want you to say the assembly because everyone thinks that's the real running time. What was your first director's cut that you were like, “Oh, this is really good, and I'm showing the studio?”

MCQUARRIE: I never had that. With every cut, we knew it could be better, we knew it could be tighter. When we finally screened it for the last test audience and were happy with the result, we were about two minutes longer than we are now, and we walked away from it. The studio was very happy, the scores were great, but we still knew we had issues. We knew we had issues with pace and length, and we went back into the editing room, reconfigured the first act, and ended up taking two minutes out of the movie, which was critical. And it can literally be that close. The difference in two minutes can make the difference between the movie feeling long or feeling just right.

Fallout , we had a cut of the movie that was five minutes shorter but scored lower. It was cut too tight, it couldn't breathe. We're just absolutely microscopic and surgical about it in terms of how we get there. But I'd say where the movie started to work for me– Because what you're seeing is the director's cut. I mean, that's really how we look at it. There's not some extended version of the movie that I would show you, thinking it was an improvement on it. Where we got into a place where I was approaching satisfaction, it's the difference of a couple of minutes.

When Part Two is eventually done, do you want people to watch Part One and Part Two in one sitting, or will you always want people to take a break after the first one, digest, and come back?

MCQUARRIE: Ideally, I will have made two movies that you can watch on their own or together. We never want you to have to check out of the movie you're in to remember another movie. We did the same thing with Top Gun: Maverick . We've done it with all of the Missions that we've done. We want to keep you immersed in the movie. That's a big red line for us.

How did you decide where to end the movie in Part One, and was it ever going to be something else?

MCQUARRIE: When the movie was so long, and we were too close to it, we couldn't figure out how to cut it down further. We talked about breaking the movie up, and the problem was there was just no place for the movie to end. The story was so interconnected. That was the only time we really discussed any other kind of ending, and that’s just, frankly, exhaustion and not wanting to confront the reality of, “We still have work to do.” The movie always ended where it did, we just didn't know what the ending exactly was. It was really critical for us that when you watch this movie as part of a two-parter, you feel satisfied at the end of Part One, that it's not just suddenly ending, and, “We'll see you later!” It had to feel like a complete movie. It had to be a movie that if Part Two didn't exist, or we hadn't figured out what Part Two was, or you had to wait two years to see the next one, you would have been satisfied with this one, I think. That's what we did.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One freefalls into theaters on July 12. Can’t believe Tom Cruise would go to such lengths? Check out Collider’s interview with him on the red carpet in Rome below.

• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

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Nail-biting moment pilot lands plane after canopy bursts open mid-flight.

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A female Dutch pilot miraculously managed to land her small plane after its canopy suddenly burst open and shattered midflight, terrifying video of the saga shows.

Narine Melkumjan shared the “distressing” footage on social media over the weekend of the moment she encountered the airborne drama in her Extra 330LX aircraft.

The nail-biting ordeal, which unfolded several years ago on Melkumjan’s second ever aerobatic training flight, showed her frantically trying to maintain a grip on the controls in the seconds after the protective barrier ruptured.

A visibly distraught Melkumjan could be seen struggling to keep her eyes open as the wind beat her face while veering the two-seater aircraft back towards the ground.

“The flight was a distressing experience, filled with noise, breathing difficulties, and impaired visibility. It took me nearly 28 hours to fully recover my vision,” Melkumjan wrote alongside the 4-minute clip.

“Aerodynamically, I’ve experienced some buffet and controllability challenges. Probably the most difficult part was to keep the power in, thus trading my vision and breathing for kinetic energy,” she continued.

“Although due to all the noise it was difficult to hear what my coach was saying on the radio, one thing I’ve heard loud and clear was ‘just keep flying’.”

Melkumjan admitted the “challenging experience” could have been avoided if she’d made the proper checks prior to take off.

“The canopy locking pin had never gone into the locked position and I failed to notice it during my checks,” she said. “I also made the mistake of going to the training camp right after recovering from COVID, without allowing my body enough time to fully regain strength.

“Additionally, flying without any eye protection made the flight even more challenging than it already was.”

Melkumjan, whose social media feeds are filled with videos of her flying, noted she was sharing the footage as a “cautionary tale” for fellow pilots.

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