Tom Cruise Is Already Learning To Fly A Plane Nicknamed ‘The Widowmaker’ For A ‘Mission: Impossible 8’ Stunt, Of Course

After spending a year training for an insane stunt where he literally rides a motorcycle off of a cliff and parachutes mid-air to safety, Tom Cruise is already prepping for his next death-defying act. The actor is reportedly learning how to fly a World War II-era military plane called “The Widowmaker” for a stunt in the soon-to-be filming Mission: Impossible 8. Via The Sun:

The plane is to be filmed in a chase with another wartime aircraft. A source told me: “Tom had started to learn to fly a Boeing Stearman biplane earlier this year for a major stunt scene in Mission: Impossible 8.

“It’s obviously a highly skilled task but as usual he has no plans to cut any corners or bring in a stuntman.”

Of course, Cruise has plenty of experience with flying thanks to his work on Top Gun and its upcoming sequel Top Gun: Maverick. However, those are state of the art modern fighter jets that are actively maintained by the armed forces. For this latest stunt, Cruise will be flying an almost 80 year old plane with a reputation for leaving bodies behind. Not only that, but he’ll be pushing the plane to perform in a chase scene where anything could go wrong, but it wouldn’t be a Tom Cruise movie if he wasn’t in constant danger of from falling out of the sky at any moment. The guy jumps off of skyscrapers as casually as you and I walk through a park.