After the Paris Olympics this year, the French city handed over the hosting role to Los Angeles, California, which is set to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. It is tradition for the white Olympic flag to be passed on to the next host city, and they decided to do it in the most American way possible. The closing ceremony had Tom Cruise jumps from the Stade du France into the stadium. He grabbed the flag and rode it onto his motorcycle before the broadcast switched to a pre-recorded video of the Mission: Impossible Star brings the flag to LA. Apparently this stunt was over a year in the planning and a lot of moving parts had to come together to pull it off.
How the incredible stunt at the closing ceremony came about
Ben Winston was one of the producers of the closing ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games and spoke about how his team made the incredible Tom Cruise stunt possible. The idea for an international travel video about the stunt came to him after he was inspired by one of Conan O’Brien’s unforgettable moments in the 2000s.
Apparently, they began talking to Cruise about his involvement in the video and the possible stunt about a year and a half ago. He had developed a relationship with the actor after working with him on several segments for The Late Late Show with James Corden, Where Cruise let the talk show host participate in stuntsHe explained pitching to Cruise and said THR:
Yes. Then I pitched it to Tom. He was my first pitch. If he hadn’t been on board, I can’t imagine anyone else. Who else represents action and an American hero? Once we had Tom, I felt like it would work – so we went from there. But it took us over a year and a half to get there.
It’s crazy to think about that time period.
How the big stunt changed over the course of a year and a half
When Winston first proposed the idea, he only mentioned the motorcycle riding portion of the stunt, meaning the Oscar nominee would only participate in the pre-recorded portion in a more controlled environment.
Instead, they were supposed to do a double jump to Paris to get the actual flag. Of course, in true Cruise fashion, he wanted to do the whole thing himself and didn’t want a balaclava-wearing stunt double having all the fun on the world stage. Winston revealed what specific feedback Tom gave.
Tom’s feedback was, “I love the idea, but we’re not doing a stuntman in a balaclava. I’ll be the one jumping off the roof and I’ll be the one driving around Paris.” That’s obviously better for me. The only reason I suggested the balaclava is because it was the difference between a one-day shoot and a four-day shoot plus rehearsals.
They tried to keep the whole thing secret during filming and said they tried to portray their shoot as Mission: Impossible film and used a plain white flag to protect the most important aspect of the shoot. Unfortunately, people got wind of the Cruise Olympics rumors and soon it was clear to everyone that it would be the actor who would bring the Olympic flag to Los Angeles, especially when Cruise actually started climbing the Hollywood sign for the Olympics video moment that fans watched over and over again.
Even though people knew about it, it didn’t change how mysterious the stunt was and how Top Shooter: Maverick The star really gives everything for the audience.
In the end, the year and a half of planning and extensive filming paid off. This moment will go down in history as one of the best Olympic flag presentations of all time. It was the perfect way to celebrate America’s hosting of the international sporting event and the great victories the United States achieved in Paris this year.
I can’t think of anything more American than a typical movie star hopping on a plane with a motorcycle and climbing a famous landmark. Kudos to Ben Winston and the production team, as well as Tom Cruise, for making this possible.
When Cruise is not representing America in Paris, he is actually shooting the next Mission: Impossible Film, which is scheduled for release in May 2025. You can watch the Oscar nominee perform other never-before-seen stunts in previous Mission: Impossible Films that currently all have a Paramount+ subscription.
