Tom Cruise has climbed a skyscraper, clung to the side of an airplane, and ridden a motorcycle off a cliff. But there’s been few underwater sequences in the Mission: Impossible franchise. In fact, as far as I can remember, there’s only been one. But it’s a doozy. In Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is tasked by Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) to… something something about an underwater vault and switching a security profile? It doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that the scene rules — and that Cruise holds his breath underwater for six minutes, a then-record for a feature film.
“I had to prove to everyone that it was actually safe,” Cruise said at the time of the film’s release. “Not only is it safe, but it’s better that I know how to hold my breath, because I’m going to be very relaxed. No one’s going to have to rush in, no one has to panic.” It was a remarkable achievement, but the hyper-specific record has since been broken by Kate Winslet in Avatar: The Way of Water (if anyone knows how to deal with water in a James Cameron film, it’s her). The Oscar winner held her breath for seven minutes and 47 seconds.
Winslet’s message to Cruise after setting the record: “Poor Tom.”
She continued, “I mean, I don’t know Tom at all – I’ve never met him in my life – but I’m sure he’s getting very fed up of hearing this story of how I broke his record.” Winslet was joking, but this is no laughing matter for Cruise. You know he wants the record back. So, if much of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two takes place underwater, as I’m guessing it will considering (mini-spoiler) where Part One leaves off, will he have the chance?
Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie told Collider that much of Dead Reckoning Part Two was shot ahead of the double strike, “except for the biggest set piece, the central set piece of the film, which is massive and unlike anything we’ve done, and, I think, unlike anything you’ve seen.”
The underwater scene in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation was filmed in a man-made tank. Could a natural body of water be next? It’s dangerous, it’s stupid, it’s expensive. It’s exactly the kind of stunt Tom Cruise was born to do.
