Tom Cruise says Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is the franchise’s “biggest moment”.
The Hollywood star said the two-part film was made with “a culmination of all my skills” and that even those unfamiliar with the series would have an “epic adventure”.
Cruise stars alongside Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, and Ving Rhames in the seventh instalment of the franchise, which is part one of two.
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One sees him reprise his role of Ethan Hunt yet again, as the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) set out to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity.
The film includes the usual slew of death-defying stunts, including one in which Cruise jumps off a cliff on a motorcycle.
Speaking at the film’s London premiere on Thursday, he said that even as a child he had always wanted to make movies, and had devoted himself to taking on new challenges and learning new skills.
“Since I was a little kid, that’s what I did,” he told the PA news agency.
“When I was three or four years old I was jumping off my roof and climbing trees – I wanted to make movies, I wanted adventure, I wanted to travel the world.
“So that’s what I do, I train – I really enjoy taking on different skills, to work to become competent in everything that I do.”
He continued: “It was actually years of training… because I fly jets, I fly helicopters, I fly aeroplanes. I’m a skydiver, I’m a parachuter, race cars, motorcycles.
“(This film) was a culmination of all my skills…. There’s a lot going on there’s a lot happening… (but) the most important part is getting the shot and getting the story across.”
Cruise said that all Mission: Impossible films thus far had “led to this”.
“Each one is different – we give you Mission: Impossible, but the scale and emotion of this film – it truly is an epic adventure,” he said.
“The whole franchise has led to this and I think it’s our biggest moment.
“If you haven’t seen a Mission: Impossible (film) then it doesn’t matter, you’re still going to get a great adventure.”
Hot Fuzz star Pegg, who reprises his role of tech-savvy Benji Dunn, said the film had “written the rulebook” on how to produce films during the pandemic.
“In 2020 there was a lot going on that was a huge challenge just trying to figure out how to make a film in those circumstances,” he told PA.
“We kind of wrote the rulebook on how to do it and it was an extraordinary experience just sort of getting through – it made the shoot a little longer, but I think it’s made the film better.”
Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is due for UK release on July 14.