Tom Cruise wants 'Mission: Impossible' movies to keep going until he’s 80, follow in Harrison Ford's footsteps

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Tom Cruise takes on speedflying for 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One'

Go behind the scenes with Tom Cruise as he performs one of the "most dangerous sports in the world" for "Mission: Impossible." (Credit: Paramount Picture/Skydance)

Tom Cruise has high hopes for his future.

The "Top Gun: Maverick" star revealed to The Sydney Morning Herald at the Australian premiere for the upcoming "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" that he wants the franchise to mimic Harrison Ford's "Indiana Jones."

"Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope to be still going. I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him," Cruise – who turned 61 on July 3 – said. "I hope to keep making ‘Mission: Impossible’ films until I’m his age."

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" was the last installment of that franchise and released at the end of June. Ford's 81st birthday is coming up on July 13.

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Tom Cruise, left, called Harrison Ford a "legend" and shared he wants to turn the "Mission: Impossible" franchise into "Indiana Jones." (Getty Images)

Even though Ford is hanging up his fedora as Indiana Jones, he has no plans on retiring. In February, Ford was a guest on the "Today" show and said, "The idea of not working doesn’t make much sense to me. It’s really where I feel most alive."

Cruise revealed at the Australian premiere that he was looking forward to the films coming out this summer.

"I grew up seeing movies on the big screen," the actor said. "That’s how I make them, and I like that experience; it’s immersive, and to have that as a community and an industry, it’s important. I still go to the movies."

Harrison Ford has starred in "Indiana Jones" since 1981. (CBS)

He added, "I want to see both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer.' I’ll see them opening weekend. Friday I’ll see ‘Oppenheimer’ first and then ‘Barbie’ on Saturday."

"Mission: Impossible" first began as a TV series that followed a secret spy agency, Impossible Missions Force. The show ran for seven seasons in the '60s. "Mission Impossible" was turned into a film franchise in 1996 starring Cruise.

The seventh installment in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise debuts in theaters on July 12.

Tom Cruise geared up for the release of his latest action flick, "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One." (Primo Barol/Anadolu Agency )

Cruise recently spoke in depth about how he trains for his films.

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"Look, as an actor and just in my life, I've always trained just to make movies," Cruise told Fandango. "I train in many things – singing, dancing, motorcycles, cars – and also my personal life, I like skydiving and speed-flying and all these things. And I like to then go learn these things and then apply it to the movies."

Tom Cruise, 63, revealed that he wants to act into his 80s like Harrison Ford. (The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)

"But it is a real trick, and I have gone through to figure out, ‘How do I train? How do I maintain? How do you hit peak right at the moment?’ Because also when I'm doing a sprinting scene, I don't just run once. Sometimes I've done 50 sprints in one day."

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He continued, "So, I have to think about what the recovery time is, what scenes I'm shooting before and after, and I've gotten better at really structuring things within the film and sitting down and going, ‘Here’s where I have to prepare for the jump off the motorcycle.' So, there are certain things in you using your body a different way or if I'm doing gymnastics or a fighting scene. You know, you don't want to do a fight right there when I'm going to sprint. And how do I prepare? And how do I recover?"