Tom Cruise brings death-defying stunts to Olympics Closing Ceremony in Paris — and Hollywood

You had me at "Tom Cruise."

Tom Cruise pulled off his latest impossible mission on the grandest scale imaginable: a series of death-defying stunts at the Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony.

The Top Gun: Maverick star helped celebrate the end of the 2024 Olympics on Sunday, and the countdown to the the '28 Games in Los Angeles by rappeling down the Stade de France, accompanied by H.E.R. on guitar.

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Cruise then retrieved the Olympic flag from star of the Games Simone Biles, before cutting to some prerecorded segments with the 62-year-old action star driving a motorcycle through the streets of Paris and then into a plane. Since this is Tom Cruise, he of course jumps out of said plane, scored by L.A.'s own Red hot Chili Peppers.

Cruise then does his signature run through the hills of Los Angeles so he can scale the Hollywood sign, transforming the O's into the Olympic rings. He then hands off the flag to cyclist Kate Courtney who brings it to sprinter Michael Johnson and then skateboarder Jagger Eaton, who finally delivers the flag to Venice Beach.

On the beach, the Chili Peppers were performing live, dusting off their 2002 hit "Can't Stop." They were followed by Billie Eilish singing "Birds of a Feather"and then the other star of the Games, Snoop Dogg, performed "Drop It Like It's Hot" and "The Next Episode," featuring surprise guest Dr. Dre.

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Cruise could also be spotted spectating numerous events at the Paris games over the last two weeks, including Simone Biles’ electrifying gymnastics performances.

Though Cruise’s television appearances are few and far between at this juncture of his career, the Olympic stunts should come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed the actor’s continual pursuit of hair-raising physical spectacle on screen. In the last five Mission: Impossible movies, Cruise has scaled the Burj Khalifa, clung to the side of a plane as it takes off, dangled from a helicopter, broken his ankle running around London rooftops, HALO jumped out of an airplane, and ridden a motorcycle off of a cliff. Cruise also seems to be an adrenaline junkie in his spare time — Glen Powell recently said that as the War of the Worlds star piloted his helicopter, he pretended to lose control over the aircraft over the London skyline as a joke.

Cruise’s next film, the untitled eighth Mission: Impossible movie, is currently set to release on May 23, 2025. Simon Pegg recently announced via Instagram that he’s wrapped his portion of filming on the project. The film will also see Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Henry Czerny, and many more M:I alums reprise their roles from previous installments, while Nick Offerman, Katy O’Brian, Holt McCallany, and Hannah Waddingham will make their first appearances in the series.

Related: Hannah Waddingham has ‘a real problem’ with Tom Cruise haters

Cruise may follow the next Mission movie with a collaboration with Birdman filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu as part of the star’s new “strategic partnership” with Warner Bros. NASA also announced in 2020 that it would collaborate with the Jerry Maguire actor on a movie filmed in space. And Powell suggested that a third Top Gun installment may begin production in the near future, though details on the project remain scarce.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.