Tom Cruise will apparently be taking his stunts to the Olympic stage.
According to reports in both TMZ and Deadline today, the Top Gun and Mission: Impossible star is set to close out the ongoing Paris Olympics on August 11 with a stunt that will see him pass the flag to Los Angeles as 2028's host city. Per TMZ, the stunt involves Cruise "rappelling down from the top of Stade de France ... landing on the stadium field and carrying the official Olympic flag."
“Expect a major Hollywood production,” a source tells Deadline. It's been known for some time that the plan is for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass to accept the flag from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in some sort of televised spectacle.
According to TMZ's report, that spectacle will also include a pre-recorded bit of Cruise skydiving down the Hollywood sign that was filmed back in March. Some pararazzi photos circulated of Cruise on the Hollywood sign in March, although the connection between that and the Olympics wasn't made at the time.
TMZ's report also adds that the stunt portion of Cruise's appearance is "all very complicated," and Cruise may need a stunt double for the "actual rappelling to kick this all off."
The reports are bolstered by the fact that Cruise has already had a presence at the Paris Olympics, being seen with other celebrities cheering on Simone Biles and Team USA in the gymnastic events on day 2. It's also not the first time Cruise has been involved in an Olympic ceremony; in 2004, he was one of the celebrity torch-bearers in Los Angeles.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
