Tom Cruise has a reputation for being a guy who likes to be in control on movie sets. He’s been known to fire insurance companies that wouldn’t let him do certain stunts. Telling him “No” is clearly not something that goes over well. Even Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie admits he’s only done it once.
Tom Cruise Wanted To Do Even More With Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning’s Plane Stunt
McQuarrie and Cruise have worked together as director and star of four Mission: Impossible movies, as well as the first Jack Reacher movie. Over the course of five movies, McQuarrie tells Buzzfeed he’s only told Tom Cruise “No” a single time, after performing the airplane stunt on Mission: Impossible – the Final Reckoning almost 20 times. The director said…
He did that 19 times. And on number 19 he landed, and I met him on the ground. And he said, ‘I’ve got this idea.’ and I said, ‘You’re done.’ He said, ‘No, no, no, come on.’ I was like, No, no no, we’re done.’ It was the only time I’ve ever said ‘No’ to him.
If you’ve seen the trailers for Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, you’ve seen Tom Cruise hanging from a biplane, a major stunt sequence in the new film. It seems that the sequence was done many times to get it just right, but Tom Cruise was up for one more because he had some idea that might make it better.
Under most circumstances, it sounds like Christopher McQuarrie might have said “OK” and done the shot one more time. However, McQuarrie felt strongly that the stunt had been done to the point that there was nothing left to do. McQuarrie says that Tom Cruise didn’t argue with him and ultimately agreed with his director. McQuarrie continued…
He immediately understood that I was absolutely right. Once the adrenaline wore off, I was like, ‘We’ve taken this as far as it can go.’
Considering how often McQuarrie and Cruise have worked together, they’ve actually worked on nine different projects when you add in McQuarrie’s work as a screenwriter, the pair must have a strong relationship. Tom Cruise may not like being told no, but when McQuarrie says it, Tom Cruise listens.
Tom Cruise Celebrated The Final Reckoning’s Opening Weekend
Whether it was the stunts or simply the fact that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning appears to be the end of the road for Tom Cruise in the massive franchise, fans certainly turned out for the new movie. The Final Reckoning’s opening weekend was the highest the franchise has ever seen, and Cruise took to Instagram to thank everybody who made that happen.
While there may be no more Mission: Impossible movies for Cruise and McQuarrie, the duo are set to work together again on other upcoming Tom Cruise movies. Whether McQuarrie will feel a need to tell his star “No” again remains to be seen, but knowing Tom Cruise, we probably shouldn’t expect it to become a habit.