You’ve seen Tom Cruise climb the Burj Khalifa, ride a motorcycle off a cliff, and hold his breath for six and a half minutes. Now it appears he’s going to add to that potentially lethal resume with a death-defying stunt to close out the Paris Olympics.
Is that surprising? Not at all. Is it exciting? Hell yeah! Prep for the stunt was reported by TMZ, who seem to have evidence he’s already shot some of the footage for the ceremony.
What about the stunt itself? Well, it sounds exactly like a Tom Cruise kind of thing. TMZ reports the actor plans to rappel down from the top of Stade de France during the ceremony, which will take place on Aug. 11.
He’s meant to land on the stadium field and carry the official Olympic flag. Afterward, the TV broadcast will reportedly cut to a pre-recorded video of Tom flying from Paris to Los Angeles, and he’d be inside the plane this time only for a brief amount of time. That’s because he’ll wrap up the bit by landing on top of the Hollywood sign, ending the stunt in true Mission: Impossible fashion.
TMZ shared a gallery of Tom pre-recording himself on top of the Hollywood sign back in March, and no one had any clue this was related to the Olympics. Well, given the actor is currently shooting Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part Two, and his rich history of doing his stunt work himself, everyone probably assumed it was just a part of another bizarre movie moment.
The stunt at Stade de France is still being reportedly sorted out and the rappelling might be done by a stunt double in the end. We find that hard to believe as Cruise has a reputation to uphold. In fact, we’d say that other actors should hire Cruise as their stunt doubles when the star has some spare time.
On top of that, Variety also had a similar report on Aug. 1 reporting on sources which are apparently close to the Olympics organizing committee. Although in their version, Cruise was already filmed driving a motorcycle throughout Paris with a large flag, then passing it over to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games.
Who would be a better choice to introduce the Olympic Torch to the world’s capital of cinema than the man, the myth, the legend himself? Los Angeles will host the Olympics in 2028 when Cruise will be aged 66. If we could, we’d bet he could also do some magic for the opening of the event, and he will still be making Mission: Impossible movies by then.