Yeah, sports are cool, but have you seen a Mission: Impossible movie? Those are awesome. The people organizing the Olympics closing ceremony agree with me, as Tom Cruise is reportedly preparing to perform a major stunt to close out the games.
TMZ first reported that Cruise’s plan involves “rappelling down from the top of Stade de France,” before landing on the stadium and carrying an Olympic flag. According to them, the broadcast will then cut to a pre-recorded segment in which Cruise brings the flag to Los Angeles (the home of the 2028 Olympics) via a skydive in which he lands on the Hollywood sign. Cruise was photographed filming something at the L.A. landmark back in March, but the sight of him scaling the sign was tame in comparison to some of his other stunts. No one batted an eye.
Interestingly, this was not the brainchild of some adrenaline junkie over at the International Olympic Committee. According to The Guardian, Cruise was the one who suggested it. He previously carried the Olympic torch through L.A. in the lead-up to the 2004 games, so there is some connective tissue there. Mostly, I think Cruise has two things on his mind at all times: (1) entertaining as many people as possible, and (2) reminding those same people that the next Mission: Impossible movie is coming out next year. Rappelling more than 100 feet into a stadium and then skydiving onto the Hollywood sign is a good way to do both of those things at once.