The Fast & Furious franchise has made a habit of plucking some unexpected names from the world of entertainment to either play supporting roles or make cameos across the series, and as one of the world’s most popular properties with a huge global fanbase, a lot of big stars are more than happy to oblige when Vin Diesel and Universal come calling.
Former MMA fighters Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey, The Raid‘s Tony Jaa and Joe Taslim, musicians Iggy Azaela, Rita Ora, Cardi B, Ja Rule and Bow Wow, recognizable faces Djimon Honsou, Michael Ealy and Michael Rooker, screen legends Kurt Russell and Helen Mirren and A-listers Dwayne Johnson and Charlize Theron have all dropped by at one point or another over the last 20 years, with insider Daniel Richtman now claiming that Tom Cruise is next on the list.
The tipster doesn’t offer anything else aside from saying that Diesel is hoping to have him cameo, but there’s a huge difference between wanting Cruise in your movie and actually getting him. He’s not above scene-stealing cameos as Austin Powers in Goldmember and Tropic Thunder have shown, but he’s also got a globetrotting blockbuster brand of his own, and both the star and Paramount might not be too keen on having him support the competition should the Mission: Impossible lead show up in Fast & Furious.
Cruise is also a very busy man with Mission: Impossible 8 finally set to get underway later this year in order to meet a summer 2023 release date, while he’s gearing up to shoot Hollywood’s first literal intergalactic blockbuster when he teams up with director Doug Liman, NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to film beyond the stars, so free time is at a premium for him. But hopefully he’d find some room to squeeze it in if a Fast & Furious offer came his way.