Tom Cruise has risen to new heights in his film making career as he dangles from the world’s tallest building during shooting of his latest movie.
Fans watched open mouthed from the pavement 2,717 feet below as the 48 year old actor dangled precariously from the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Cameramen leaned from a window above and a film crew in a helicopter hovered within metres as he ran across the windows of the building. Another actor also hangs close by as Cruise jumps over him in a chase scene.
The adrenalin junkie insists on doing his own daring stunts and previous films have seen him riding a motorbike through fire, fighting with samurai swords, jumping from building to building and scaling rock faces without ropes.
Cruise was filming the fourth Mission Impossible movie which he has revealed will be called Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Speaking earlier in the summer Cruise explained how he likes to make his films as realistic as possible saying “I love having the camera right there in front of me, where you can see me holding a shot all the way through. I think it adds to the excitement for the audience. It’s something that is challenging to do and fun for me.”
Cruise also admitted that whilst the adrenalin rush spurs him on, he goes through each stunt meticulously with co-stars and the director beforehand. They talk through every skid, slide, roll and jump, ironing out every last detail for his character; Force Agent Ethan Hunt, to perfection.
“I want to entertain the audience and part of making these movies is doing my own stunts” he told the Daily record.
The award wining actor first came to our attention in the 1983 film ‘Risky Business’ a romantic comedy that launched the actor on his way to stardom, however it is the 1986 ‘Top Gun’ film which most people remember from his earliest releases. He went on to star in The Colour of Money, Cocktail, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July and Vanilla Sky amongst many others.
It is not the first thrill seeking action that the record breaking building has seen, in May 2008 two men dressed as engineers got past security and base jumped from a balcony just beneath the 160th floor. Then on January 8th 2010 Nasr Al Niyadi and Omar Al Hegelan from the Emirates Aviation Society broke the record for the world’s highest BASE jump after they leapt from a platform especially attached to the 160th floor, releasing their parachutes after 10 seconds, they travelled at speeds of 140mph and took just 90 seconds to reach the ground.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is due for release in December 2010.