An Audience Member "Almost Had A Heart Attack" During A Test Screening Of The New 'Mission: Impossible'

You wanna build hype for the next 'Mission: Impossible' movie - already being marketed as possibly the final installment in the Ethan Hunt story? It's pretty simple: tell me someone "almost had a heart attack" during an action scene in a recent test screening and I'll get in line right now. Respectfully, that's the kinda shit I love to hear. Tom Cruise has upped the stakes in seven straight movies now, almost killing himself doing his own stunts in every one, and now he's gonna try to kill each and every one of us from the big screen. He'll get so crazy that YOU have a heart attack in your sticky movie theater recliner!

Seriously, though - I once saw somebody get carried out of a movie theater on a stretcher while in line for an opening night showing of 'IT', and while I of course was hoping that person was gonna be alright, it was one of the most exhilarating things I've ever experienced. Everyone on that line shared a collective look/thought that said, "Holy shit, how scary is this movie gonna be? Did it just KILL someone?!" They even checked IDs that night - something I had never experienced at the movies, and everything about that night made me think we were in store for something fucked up and special. 

Of course, the movie didn't kill anyone, and wasn't even close to as scary I'd built it up as in my head - but my god if it didn't have an awesome vibe going in; a "big fight feel" if you will. Even though we're still months away from the new 'Mission: Impossible', as ridiculous as it sounds - this silly quote moves the needle for me. Christopher McQuarrie telling us his new movie almost sent someone into cardiac arrest and that he considers that a win is everything great about the action genre. All I want is sequences that have my heart pounding, on the edge of my seat, bought in like a fan who doesn't know wrestling is pre-determined....

That's the kinda shit Nicole Kidman is talking about when she says we come to the movies for magic, and this McQuarrie/Cruise duo have seemingly perfected it.

'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' is currently slated to hit theaters on May 23, 2025.