There are many ways to define American excellence. Jazz. McDonald’s. Shoelaces (oh, that wasn’t us? Never mind). But the dictionary definition should be “Tom Cruise risking his life for our entertainment.” The Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, and first-movie-to-be-filmed-in-space actor will reportedly close the 2024 Paris Olympics with an “epic stunt” to proverbially (and literally?) the torch to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
According to TMZ, “the plan for the upcoming Closing Ceremony involves Tom repelling down from the top of Stade de France… landing on the stadium field and carrying the official Olympic flag.” From there, the broadcast will cut to previously recorded footage, which begin with two minutes of “Tom’s journey on an airplane… flying with the Olympic flag from France to Los Angeles, where he skydives down to the Hollywood sign.”
The Hollywood sign stunt was apparently filmed back in March (sneaky!). As for the rest of the film, it shows “Tom passing the flag to other Olympians — including a cyclist, skateboarder, and volleyball player — as they make their way around the next host city for the Summer Games.”
Look, I’m not going to claim Tom Cruise is as remarkable an athlete as Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik… but that’s only because we haven’t seen him on the pummel house. Maybe in Mission: Impossible 8.
(Via TMZ)