I perhaps should have known that Tom Cruise had touched down in Cannes when I heard French beatboxers performing the Mission: Impossible theme on the majestic red steps of the Lumière, the theater where Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning would premiere later that night to overwhelmingly positive reviews and a five-minute standing ovation.
The goofy rendition of the famous music was a classic Cannes touch—impossibly corny, but infectiously enthusiastic. That enthusiasm extended toward the Croisette where Cruise fans were already lined up for a glimpse of Ethan Hunt himself at just before noon, hours for the evening gala.
“Since we were kids it was a dream to see Tom,” a woman from Nice told me from her perch in the somewhat oppressive sun. Why? “He’s a modern hero,” she added, marveling at how he does his own stunts.
Little did she know Cruise was already basically in the building. At the Debussy, one of the many venues in the complex of the Palais, he was about to join his director Christopher McQuarrie for a conversation. It was a surprise for the audience who had gathered to hear the filmmaker talk about his career.
McQuarrie spoke for about 25 minutes before moderator Didier Allouch asked him about how the collaboration between him and Cruise, which has now resulted in 11 movies, started.
“I was very surprised when I sat down and met Tom Cruise,” McQuarrie said. “The Tom Cruise, who I knew from his movies and his publicity, I had a very different picture of who Tom Cruise was. We loved the same movies.” McQuarrie called Cruise a “student,” who is eager to learn from those around them.
“When you’re making a Tom Cruise movie it’s not Tom Cruise saying, ‘No, here’s how you do it,’ it’s Tom Cruise empowering you and saying, ‘What do you want to do?’” McQuarrie added. “That spotlight, when the first time it’s turned on you, is incredibly intense and incredibly clarifying.”
Allouch then invited Cruise on stage to tell his side of the story to shrieks from the audience. If Cruise’s love of capital-M movies has essentially become a meme, his appearance only supported that.
“It’s not complicated, we love movies, we love telling stories,” Cruise said of his relationship with McQuarrie.
Wearing head-to-toe burgundy, Cruise talked up his intense, studious obsession with the cinema. And McQuarrie provided stories from the set of Final Reckoning to back that up. Specifically, they talked up the two big set pieces: One in which Cruise as Ethan Hunt careens around a half-submerged submarine and another in which he hangs off the side of a biplane eventually crawling into pilot it.
“Remember that when you’re watching Tom inside this semi-submerged rotating room inside the submarine: that is housed inside a 60-foot diameter, 1000-ton, 360 degree rotating fully submersible steel gimbal in an 8.5 million liter tank,” McQuarrie said. “And he’s inside it.”
So how do they think of this stuff? Well, according to McQuarrie the “craziest” stunt involving the plane came because he showed Cruise a TikTok.
“[It] was the result of my foolishly showing Tom a TikTok video thinking he’d simply be amused by it,” McQuarrie said. “And he said, ‘I can do that.’ And I said, ‘No you can’t.’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ And then he went about developing the process to do it.”
And does Cruise feel fear when he’s rendering himself nearly unconscious hanging off the side of a plane for longer than is safe for the human body? No. Not really.
“I don’t mind kind of encountering the unknown,” Cruise said. “I like the feeling. It’s just an emotion for me and it’s something that is not paralyzing. It doesn’t bother me.” He added, “How do I feel about fear? I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s exciting.’ Get the adrenaline going.”
The stop at Cannes is part of Cruise’s farewell tour for Mission: Impossible, the franchise that has consumed nearly 30 years of his life. He’s now turning to more prestige-y seeming entertainment that might take him away from all that death defying for a bit. His next project is a film by Alejandro González Iñárritu that could very well mark an Oscar comeback.
But is this the true end of Ethan Hunt? Cruise skirted the question posed by Allouch.
“Just let us show the movie tonight,” Cruise said. “It’s 30 years culmination of this. I’d rather just people see it and enjoy.”
Of course, the premiere was a tough ticket.
But fans gathered on the Croisette to catch a glimpse of Cruise even if they couldn’t get into the building.
As soon as he emerged from his car, cheers erupted, and Cruise, wearing sunglasses, stopped for selfies and autographs. And as Cruise and the cast posed for photos on Cannes famous red carpet, a 40-piece live orchestra played the Mission: Impossible theme. It was a step up from the beatboxers, but eventually segued into a house version of the song, staying true to the Cannes brand.
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