In Hollywood, one minute you are up, and the next minute you are down. That’s what Tom Cruise is facing right now as he’s at a crossroads in his storied career. In the summer of 2022, he was riding the wave of Top Gun: Maverick‘s success at the box office, but last summer, fans stayed away in droves from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

Now, Mission: Impossible 8 is reportedly facing more delays after an over $29 million submarine set piece malfunctioned, according to the Mirror. “They’re not happy as it puts production behind, which costs a lot of money per day,” an on-set insider shared. The May 2025 release is likely in jeopardy because they won’t be able to finish the film in time for the scheduled premiere. This setback puts “the weight of the world on [Cruise’s] shoulders” because there are “hundreds of millions of dollars on the line,” per an In Touch source.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE, (aka MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7), from left: Hayley Atwell, Tom Cruise, 2023.The insider noted that tensions are high and that nobody wants to get on the 61-year-old actor’s “bad side between now and next summer.” They added, “Sure, he can still flash his famous ‘million-dollar smile’ when the cameras are rolling but more frequently he’s stone-faced and on edge as he tries to finally bring this production to a close.” It’s “the most stress and adversity he’s ever faced on a production” which is saying a lot after filing the seventh installment of Mission: Impossible “at the height of the pandemic.”

Fans will remember “Tom’s infamous audio rant recording from that time showed the whole world how stressed he was.” It showed a darker side to the star, who rarely lets his A-list image slip. “They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf—ers,” he yelled in the clip in audio obtained by The Sun in 2020. “I don’t ever want to see it again! Ever! If I see you do it again, you’re f—ing gone.”

Cruise knows he needs to deliver big time for the studios and theater owners in 2025 because the summer of 2024, so far, has been abysmal at the box office. Anyone who has worked with the Days of Thunder star knows that he aims for perfection. Miles Teller recalled to Page Six that while filming Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise would tell his fellow actors, “‘We’re trying to hit a bullet with a bullet.’” Those are some pretty high expectations to live up to.