Tom Cruise will reportedly have a starring role in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games’ Aug. 11 closing ceremony, when he may skydive to the Hollywood Sign during the orchestrated handoff to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympiad. According to TMZ, the stunt was quietly shot this past March.
Cruise has attended the Paris games, including for the women’s gymnastics qualifiers as well as swimming competitions. “It’s awesome,” he told Reuters. “Great stories, great athletes. It’s incredible what they have to do, the sense of accomplishment.”
Production company Fulwell 73 — co-run by James Corden and known for Hulu’s The Kardashians as well as Adele’s 2021 CBS special One Night Only, which took place at the iconic Griffith Observatory — is behind the L.A. segment, which will mix prerecorded and live elements.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that an early plan involved a large party at Will Rogers State Beach, where the handoff of the Olympic flag would occur. This was scrapped due to LAPD concerns over an extended Pacific Coast Highway shutdown and challenges obtaining the necessary California Coastal Commission permitting. Fulwell 73 didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Paris Games’ July 26 opening ceremony, featuring a performance by Lady Gaga, drag queens and global athletes sailing down the River Seine, drew mixed reactions.
Closing ceremonies and their handoffs have previously been the stage for celebrity spectacles. At Beijing in 2008, Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis collaborated on a performance of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” while atop a faux bus headed to London.
The 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies — produced by Roots mastermind David L. Wolper and key Walt Disney Co. creative executive Robert Jani — were notably Hollywood-driven spectacles, including performances by Lionel Richie, the Beach Boys and the film composer John Williams.