Tom Cruise says he performed high-flying stunt in new 'Mission Impossible'

Tom Cruise, star of the upcoming film 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation,' waves to the audience during a surprise appearance at the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon 2015 at Caesars Palace on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP / Invision / Chris Pizzello)

LAS VEGAS -- Tom Cruise revealed Tuesday at a surprise appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas that he actually hung off the side of an airplane in the film "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation."

The actor said he performed the stunt, which involved a massive Airbus A400M taking off and flying to 5,000 feet, eight times with a harness attaching him to the aircraft.

Cruise said he was terrified throughout, having to worry about particles from the runway, jet fuel fumes and even birds.

"I want to keep audiences on the edge of their seats," he said.

Cruise introduced two new clips from the film as part of Paramount Pictures' presentation to the nation's theater owners previewing its upcoming movies.

The first shows Cruise escaping from captivity with skillful martial arts moves alongside Rebecca Ferguson. The second is a comedic car chase with co-star Simon Pegg in the passenger's seat.

Ferguson and Pegg joined Cruise on stage but neither wore a microphone, making it even more clear that Cruise was the main event. The film is set to open on July 31.

CinemaCon is a preview of some of the year's most anticipated fare and an assurance to the people who own the theaters that the big films will be making money for them.

Arnold Schwarzenegger also took the stage to introduce a 12-minute preview of "Terminator: Genisys."

Bedecked in the character's signature leather jacket and sunglasses, Schwarzenegger joked that he wanted to make a big entrance to the event with a helicopter, motorcycle or even on a chariot surrounded by showgirls.

Schwarzenegger told the audience that he could promise them "big, big box office" with the film, which debuts on July 1.

"We all know that the first three `Terminators' - the ones that I was involved with so they're the only ones that count - made over $1 billion," he said.

Paramount also showed an amusing trailer from its upcoming comedy "Daddy's Home," starring Will Ferrell as a stepdad whose world is thrown when his kids' biological father, played by Mark Wahlberg, returns.

CinemaCon runs through Thursday.