Watch Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning preview on TV tonight

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (Image credit: Paramount Pictures/Skydance)

Cue the music, light the fuse, Tom Cruise is back for another impossible mission with the latest entry to his long-running movie franchise, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. We are just days away from one of the most anticipated summer blockbuster movies of the year being released around the world on July 12, (the hype is real based on our Dead Reckoning Part One review), but before then, Mission: Impossible fans can get a special look at the new movie on Wednesday, July 5, on CBS.

Airing at 9:30 pm ET/PT on CBS, the behind-the-scenes special is called Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One: Creating the Impossible. It's a half-hour broadcast with Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie sharing a look at the making of the movie. Specifically, it'll highlight the real stunts and action that continue to be among the main draws of the franchise.

There's already been a lot shared about the set piece that is being called the "the biggest stunt in cinema history" — where Cruise jumps a motorbike off a cliff and then parachutes to the ground — but there are sure to be plenty of jaw-dropping moments in the movie that the special should peel the curtain back a bit. 

Perhaps knowing the level of difficulty it took to pull off some of these stunts will up their chances of cracking our ranking of best Tom Cruise stunts.

While not specified in the official description, there's probably a good chance that other stars of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One cast are going to be featured in the special. Among those who could pop up are Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby and more.

In addition to being available to anyone with a basic cable TV package or live TV streaming service with CBS, Paramount Plus with Showtime subscribers can live stream their local CBS station to watch the special. The special will likely be available to stream on Paramount Plus on-demand the next day as well.

Here is the official synopsis for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One:

"In Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most."

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.