Tom Cruise to take part in epic stunt to close Paris Olympics

The Mission: Impossible actor will reportedly play a key role in the Closing Ceremony on Aug 11 to pass the flag to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games, and has already pre-recorded part of the visual spectacle.

Sources told TMZ that Tom will abseil down from the top of Stade de France, landing on the stadium field while carrying the official Olympic flag, before the televised broadcast then cuts to a previously-recorded film, with the first two minutes depicting the 62-year-old actor's flight to the US before skydiving down to the Hollywood sign.

The film will then show Tom passing the flag on to other Olympians, including a cyclist, a volleyball player and a skateboarder as they travel through the next Games' host city.

The Los Angeles portion of the stunt was filmed on a Saturday morning in March and insiders admitted they had expected the Top Gun star to be spotted and leak the information before now.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, an early plan involved a large party at Will Rogers State Beach that would see the handover of the Olympic flag, but it was scrapped due to police concerns over an extended closure of the Pacific Coast Highway, and challenges relating to obtaining the necessary permits from the California Coastal Commission.

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Logistics for the French half of the stunt are still being arranged and it may be that the Eyes Wide Shut star uses a stunt double for the actual abseil.

Tom is said to have been the driving force behind the spectacle and approached the International Olympic Committee himself about doing a series of stunts to bring the Paris and Los Angeles Games together.

In 2004, the Vanilla Sky actor helped carry the torch through LA as part of a global relay ahead of the Athens Olympics.