Tom Cruise is reportedly set to assist with the ceremonial Olympic Games handoff between Paris and the 2028 host, Los Angeles.
The closing ceremonies will get a boost from the Mission: Impossible actor who has filmed stunts in both cities as part of a pre-taped segment for 11 August, according to TMZ.
Details of the ceremony remain under wraps, but it is known that Anne Hidalgo, the Paris mayor, will hand off the Olympic flag to Karen Bass, the LA mayor. A source told trade publication Deadline to expect “a major Hollywood production”.
According to TMZ, which obtained photos of Cruise filming stunts at the Hollywood sign earlier this year, the 62-year-old actor, known for his impressive stunt work, will rappel down the Stade de France in Paris, travel by airplane to LA and end up at the famous Hollywood Hills sign. Footage of Cruise filming at the iconic destination has begun circulating online.
Neither NBC nor the International Olympic Committee has confirmed Cruise’s involvement. TMZ reported that it was Cruise who approached the IOC about doing a series of stunts to connect the games in Paris to the future games in LA.
The US city, which also hosted the 1932 and 1984 summer games, will host the Olympics from 14-30 July 2028. The events will kick off at the Coliseum, built for the 1932 games, and take place in a collection of venues that organizers are calling the Downtown Sports Park: the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center), the Convention Center, the LA Football Club Stadium, USC’s Galen Center and the Microsoft Theater.
This would not be Cruise’s first brush with Olympic glory; the actor helped carry the torch through Los Angeles for the 2004 games, as part of a ceremonial relay across the globe before the opening ceremony in Athens, Greece.
The actor has been filming the eighth Mission: Impossible installment around parts of Europe, including England in March of this year. It’s scheduled for a release in summer 2025.
Cruise has been seen cheering on athletes from the stands in Paris, which kicked off its Olympics on 26 July with a theatrical, winding opening ceremony along the Seine River. The four-hour affair featured musical performances by Lady Gaga, Aya Nakamura, the punk band Gojira and Céline Dion, who dazzled in her first performance since she announced her diagnosis with the autoimmune disorder called stiff person syndrome.
