tom cruise standing on burj khalifa

Did Tom Cruise Sit Atop the Burj Khalifa Without a Harness?

The skyscraper is more than a half-mile tall., published june 10, 2021.

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This is a genuine photograph of Tom Cruise sitting on top of the Burj Khalifa, but he is almost certainly wearing a harness.

A practically unbelievable photograph of actor Tom Cruise sitting on top of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at a height of more than a half mile, is frequently shared online along with the claim that the actor wasn't wearing a harness during the stunt:

This photograph was taken in 2011, during the filming of the fourth installment in the "Mission Impossible" series. Cruise did a number of stunts in that movie that took place inside (and outside) the building. Here's a behind-the-scenes clip showing some of these stunts:

At one point during filming, Cruise and the stunt team decided to take a helicopter to the top of the building to get a few photographs. Cruise talked about this experience during an appearance on "The Graham Norton Show."

While the picture is real, there's plenty of reasons to doubt the claim that Cruise was without a harness during this stunt. For one, when Cruise filmed these stunts (as seen in the behind-the-scenes clip above) he is wearing a harness. In fact, Tom Peitzman, the visual effects producer for the movie, said in 2011 that everyone involved in filming these stunts (even those who were inside while Cruise was hanging on the outside of the building) were also wearing a harnesses.

"Special mounts had to be made for the 65-millmeter Imax cameras, special safety had to be put in place, because in a building that's 800 meteres tall [it's 2,723 feet] you couldn't run the risk of anything falling. Even all of us who are working inside the building, we all had to harness ourselves because the window was open." 

With all of the safety precautions that went into filming these stunts, it seems highly improbable that Cruise would be allowed to sit on the top of this building without a harness. 

It should also be noted that while there are pictures of Cruise sitting on the Burj Khalifa and of the helicopter near the Burj Khalifa, there are no photographs of Cruise getting in or out of the helicopter. While it seems likely Cruise simply hopped out of the helicopter for a quick pic, there was likely a little more involved (such as hooking up some sort of security cable.)

It's also worth noting that helicopter is not the only way to access the top of this spire. This column is actually hollow and can be accessed via an internal ladder. This is how maintenance crews would access this area. In 2013, photographer Joe McNally was allowed to access this area to take some images.

It seems likely that someone was waiting for Cruise as he transitioned from the helicopter to the spire, and then helped him attach a safety harness. 

Correction [June 14, 2021]: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to photographer Joe McNally as John McNally.

By Dan Evon

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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Screen Rant

Mission impossible 4: how tom cruise did the burj khalifa stunt.

The Burj Khalifa sequence in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is Tom Cruise's craziest and most famous stunt. This is how he achieved it.

• Cruise's Burj Khalifa stunt in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a defining, heart-stopping moment for the franchise.
• With dangerous stunts like the HALO jump in Fallout, the Burj Khalifa climb remains Cruise's most famous feat.
• From carefully fixing harnesses to rigorous training, the Burj Khalifa stunt was a logistical nightmare that paid off well.

The Burj Khalifa stunt in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a defining moment for the franchise, but audiences wonder if Tom Cruise climbs the Burj Khalifa in real life. With a growing list of extremely dangerous stunts on his resume, scaling Burj Khalifa's exterior in the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise is one of Cruise's most famous feats of courage. Since then, Cruise has continued to defy death in multiple movies with stunts like Mission Impossible: Fallout 's HALO jump. Still, the Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa stunt has become a cinema landmark.

Ghost Protocol takes Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt to Dubai in search of nuclear launch codes after Kurt Hendricks, a.k.a. Cobalt (Michael Nyquist), steals a devastating weapon. It's obvious by now that Hunt never takes the easy route. Ethan must reach the 130th floor of the 2,722 ft skyscraper and ditch the elevator in favor of a pair of questionable suction gloves. Starting the climb 123 floors up is the easy part as he then rappels down the building and makes a jump of faith. The Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa stunt is one of the most intense and thrilling scenes ever.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+

Tom Cruise's 14 Mission: Impossible Stunts Ranked By Most Dangerous

Tom cruise's burj khalifa stunt explained, the actor was equipped with a harness that was fixed to strategic points on the building.

For the Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa stunt, the actor had to be equipped with a harness that was carefully fixed to strategic points in the building , which required that the studio get special permits to drill on the floors and walls, and the Mission: Impossible 4 crew broke 35 windows . Director Brad Bird ( The Incredible s) consulted with multiple professionals from different areas like engineers, pro climbers, and stuntmen to ensure the safety of the shoot. He even considered using a dedicated stuntman, but, as he's done for the majority of his career, Cruise did his own Mission: Impossible 4 stunts.

Tom Cruise didn't know that the tight harness would cut off his circulation, so the shoot had to be completed as efficiently and quickly as possible. Otherwise, his lower body would start feeling numb. The helicopters that were shooting had a flight limit of 30 minutes at a time too, so the crew had to make every take count. The sequence was also shot in IMAX, which meant that the cameras would run out of film fast. The footage had to be flown back to Los Angeles, and Bird couldn't check if everything was perfect until the film was developed.

The training for the Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa stunt was also extremely thorough and calculated. The crew built a wall of glass to simulate the exterior of the real building and had Tom Cruise climb up and down several times to get him familiarized with the discomfort of the harness and the physical toll of the climb. They went so far as to heat up the wall with artificial lights to simulate the temperature of the windows of the Burj Khalifa. The stunt was a logistical nightmare, but the planning all paid off.

Mission Impossible Movies Ranked - From The 1996 Original to Dead Reckoning Part 1

Why tom cruise on burj khalifa is the best mission impossible stunt, the stunt is like a live-action incredibles scene.

Tom Cruise always does his own Mission: Impossible stunts , including hanging off a plane, holding his breath for six minutes to perform an underwater heist, and conducting 109 HALO jumps to get the perfect shot. But of all these movie stunts, the iconic Burj Khalifa sequence is the best proof of the actor's dedication to his craft. The Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol scene is the most nail-biting sequence for audiences, and it was extremely dangerous, exhausting, and probably terrifying for Cruise himself.

Nevertheless, the results are impressive, to say the least; Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol has one of the best stunt scenes caught on camera. Having scaled the side of the world's tallest building – for real – grants eternal franchise bragging rights for any self-respecting action series. The stunt plays out like a live-action Incredibles scene too, as the sequence is layered with clever action comedy, such as the suction gloves having a mind of their own. The Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa stunt has an equal balance of edge-of-your-seat thrills and laugh-out-loud comedy, which few other Mission: Impossible stunts have.

Mission: Impossible 8 - Release Date, Story & Everything We Know About Dead Reckoning Part 2

Was the tom cruise burj khalifa stunt his most dangerous, the motorcycle jump in mission: impossible - dead reckoning as arguably more dangerous.

Following the Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa stunt, the actor performed more stunts that were just as dangerous. In Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation , Cruise hung onto the side of a plane as it took off. The actor also held his breath underwater for a record-breaking 6 minutes (that's until the record was broken by Kate Winslet in Avatar: The Way of Water ). Following that, Cruise committed to a HALO jump for Mission: Impossible - Fallout . The HALO jump was so dangerous that Henry Cavill wasn't allowed to take part because it would have put Cruise's life at risk (via AutoEvolution ).

However, the motorcycle jump in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 was the actor's most dangerous stunt yet . It would have been impossible to foresee where the bike would land when Cruise let go, and so many other things that the production couldn't properly plan for. Accurately conducting a risk assessment of the scene must have been the most frustrating part of the movie's development. The impossible-to-determine physics, along with controlling a vehicle in mid-air and being dangerously close to rocks on a cliff edge, makes Cruise's motorcycle jump the most dangerous stunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Tom Cruise has injured himself a number of times due to his commitment to performing his own stunts (via MovieWeb ).

However, it's comical to compare the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol stunt and the motorcycle-parachute stunt, as neither are things that anybody should ever attempt. Nevertheless, Cruise competes with himself, and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 2 could feature his two most dangerous stunts yet. Mission: Impossible 8 features a water stunt in which Cruise could claim back his breath-holding record from Winslet. The upcoming movie also features another airplane stunt, only this time it isn't taking off but is sky-high. Either way, Mission: Impossible's stunts are almost equally dangerous, and Cruise is happily risking his life for the audience's entertainment.

Sources: AutoEvolution , MovieWeb

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

*Availability in US

The fourth film in the franchise, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, is an action-thriller film set years after the events of Mission: Impossible 3. It sees Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) see themselves falsely accused of a crime. Following a terrorist attack on the Kremlin, the IMF is implicated in the attack, forcing the government to disavow knowledge of them. To clear their names and find the true culprit, the United States initiates the "Ghost Protocol," forcing them all to go off the grid with no support to solve the case.

The Film Bandit

How tom cruise pulled off the burj khalifa stunt in ‘ghost protocol’.

When moviegoers think of the unforgettable action scenes from the Mission Impossible movies, the Burj Khalifa stunt from Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol inevitably comes to mind. The incredible stunt features actor Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt) scaling the world’s tallest building in Dubai. We take a behind-the-scenes look at what went into filming the stunt, one of the craziest scenes in Mission Impossible history.

Setting the Scene: Burj Khalifa in Dubai

Burj Khalifa , the 2,722-foot skyscraper and engineering marvel in Dubai, boasts 163 floors, including the 130th floor where the shoot for this jaw-dropping scene occurred. Not only is the Burj Khalifa an architectural landmark, but it’s also the backdrop for the fourth installment of Mission Impossible .

Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is on the prowl for Kurt Hendricks, played by Michael Nyqvist , in search of some nuclear launch codes. This will prevent a devastating weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

The Planning Phase

Creating the stunt began with an initial concept from director Brad Bird , who directed both Ratatouille and The Incredibles . Ghost Protocol was Bird’s directorial debut in live-action cinema, and his vision for the Burj Khalifa sequence was ambitious: Tom Cruise had to climb the exterior of the skyscraper. As a filmmaker, Bird wanted to film the scene in real time, with IMAX cameras capturing every jolt of every slipped hand for maximum viewer impact.

Cruise insisted on performing his own stunts, a hallmark of his work across the Mission Impossible franchise, so he took on the challenging Burj Khalifa stunt, forgoing the easy route of using a dedicated stuntman or doubles. As one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Cruise has performed a growing list of extremely dangerous stunts for the majority of his career, often pushing the limits of what an actor will do, from free climbing to a high-speed helicopter chase in Fallout .

Given the height and potential safety concerns involved, the safety of the shoot was extremely important. To ensure the scene could be filmed without a hitch, a comprehensive and coordinated effort was needed from the production team. Dubai Studio City , the city’s official film authority, helmed by Jamal Al Sharif , worked closely with the studio to manage a myriad of logistics. This process involved obtaining special permits, coordinating with the architects and full-time engineers of Burj Khalifa, ensuring that all safety codes were met.

The logistics of shooting on the Burj Khalifa’s exterior required innovative expertise. To begin, the production team had to build a glass wall around the area of the building where the shot would be taken. Professional climbers were employed to identify strategic points on the building where the rigging could be attached. To protect the Burj Khalifa’s facade, they had to find a way to break windows for rigging, without causing damage to other parts of the building.

Once the areas of the building were identified and the glass wall was erected, the team faced the next obstacle: rigging up the harnesses and cables that would keep Cruise safe. The actor was attached to a safety harness, which was then fastened to the side of the building itself. A variety of tools were used in the process, including a thin wire, a piece of cable, and a pair of suction gloves. Every component of the setup was meticulously brake-tested and inspected for any potential faults before Cruise was attached.

Beyond the physical setup, the shot required careful planning and coordination. This required a multitude of repetitions to make the stunt appear as smooth and natural as possible on the big screen. It required substantial training and preparation, even for a Hollywood star like Tom Cruise.

Training and Preparation

Before the shot was taken, Cruise underwent extensive training with stuntman, Gregg Smrz . This training involved Cruise learning how to perform an Australian rappel , a descent technique used by climbers, and learning how to maintain his grip on the glass finger holds.

In terms of mental preparation, Cruise employed a sort of Zen mindset, focusing on the task at hand, making sure his mind remained clear during the stunt. The ultimate goal was to allow Cruise to remain calm under pressure. Given the stakes, any minor mistake could have resulted in a grim call, so the stunt required his unwavering focus.

Shooting the Scene

The day of shooting brought with it the tension relief that the scene was finally underway. All the careful planning and rigorous training was about to be put to the test. Director Brad Bird and his crew were faced with numerous challenges during the shoot. One was to ensure that the live-action scene felt authentic. To do this, they employed real-time filming, using IMAX cameras to capture the action as it unfolded.

The scene, captured by the legendary cinematographer Robert Elswit , shows Cruise using a pair of special suction gloves to climb the building, holding on for dear life as he fights crosswinds and the relentless sun. Every frame of the sequence, from the wide shots showing the real dimensions of Burj Khalifa, to the close-ups that reveal the strain on Cruise’s face, adds to the impact of the scene.

One of the difficulties that arose during the shoot was the potential threat of a sandstorm. Given Dubai’s desert climate, a sandstorm could have disrupted the shooting schedule. Worse, it could pose a risk to Cruise and the rest of the crew working on the 130th floor of the skyscraper. However, with careful monitoring of weather conditions, they managed to work around this challenge and shoot the scene successfully.

Incorporating humor into this intense scene provided a touch of tension relief. Simon Pegg , who plays Benji Dunn in the movie, delivers a really funny line just before Cruise takes his jump of faith. This juxtaposition of humor and high-stakes action is a signature part of the Mission Impossible franchise.

Post-Production

After the scene was shot, the production team had to replace the windows that were broken during the shoot, making sure the Burj Khalifa returned to its original state. In the end, the sequence required the breaking and subsequent replacement of several windows. This was carefully managed to prevent any lasting damage to the architectural landmark.

Once the film was in post-production, the beauty of Dubai as a shooting location was enhanced through the use of high-quality sound and editing. The inclusion of the Burj Khalifa sequence in Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol not only boosted the film’s advertisement but also highlighted the city of Dubai and the skyscraper itself.

The Impact and Legacy of the Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa Stunt

In the end, the shoot was beneficial for Dubai, putting the city and the Burj Khalifa on the map for many international viewers. With its pivotal role in Ghost Protocol , the skyscraper has become an iconic part of cinematic history.

Lastly, Tom Cruise’s commitment to performing his own stunts, combined with the willingness of the Mission Impossible team to push boundaries, resulted in an action sequence that is unforgettable, even now. The Burj Khalifa stunt is definitely one of Cruise’s most famous feats.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like Behind Tom Cruise’s Insane Rogue Nation Airplane Stunt.

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Photos Of Tom Cruise's Spectacular Skyscraper Stunt From 'Mission: Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol'

At a Dubai press conference not too long ago for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol , Tom Cruise mentioned that some filming would take place at Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. "I'll be spending many days, many hours on the side of this building, I can't give you details, but I will be up there," Cruise said. Now, photos have surfaced online that show exactly what he was referring to. Hit the jump to check them out.

The below photos come from the Daily Mail , who report that the shooting the scene was incredibly tense, both for film crew and for onlookers watching below. This was understandable, as Burj Khalifa took over 5 years to construct and is over 2,700 feet tall. Cruise hung from the building's observation deck, 124 floors above the ground. Apparently, the stunt involved running across the building and jumping over another actor, also dangling precariously high up. A helicopter was just 10 feet away to capture the scene from the outside.

Cruise has often expressed a preference for doing his own stunts. He told the Daily Record this past summer:

I want to entertain the audience and part of making these movies is doing my own stunts. 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 an audience. It's something that is challenging to do and fun for me.

It might sound a bit narcissistic to some but I actually appreciate Cruise's work ethic. As jaded moviegoers, we've been trained to look for the cut where the stunt double replaces the actor. It's nice to know there are still some actors out there willing to put their asses on the line for the sake of entertainment.

How Tom Cruise pulled off that 'Mission: Impossible 4' skyscraper climb and canceled his retirement from the blockbuster franchise

As the star of the Mission: Impossible movie series, Tom Cruise has been pulling off impossible missions — and improbable stunts — for a quarter century and counting. From the 1996 franchise-starter to the currently filming seventh and eight installments, the first of which will hit theaters in 2022 , the actor's alter ego, super-agent Ethan Hunt, has traveled the globe and saved the world many times over.

But Cruise's license to thrill almost got revoked a decade ago in the fourth installment, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol . Directed by Brad Bird and released in theaters on Dec. 15, 2011, the movie was widely assumed at the time to be the star's final outing. In a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Ghost Protocol stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz confirms that's how things went down in the original script, which features an extended climax where Ethan chases rogue nuclear strategist Kurt Hendricks (played by Michael Nyqvist) around a towering carpark.

"There was a point in the script when he's fighting Michael Nyqvist where he was supposed to get his leg broken," Smrz remembers now. "They wanted it hyper-extended at the knee, just shredded — end of career, you know? The studio was going to write him out, and Tom did not want it. He was strapping in his harness, looked at me and said, 'I ain't going nowhere.' Then he walked out on set and did his thing. We had [the leg break] all set and ready to go, and it disappeared."

Turns out that Cruise called his shot correctly. Far from becoming his last Mission: Impossible movie, Ghost Protocol relit the franchise's fuse with a mighty $210 million domestic box-office gross and a wave of ecstatic reviews. The movie also boasts a sequence that consistently ranks on or near the top of any list of the very best Mission: Impossible stunts : Ethan's nail-biting climb up the side of Dubai's world-famous Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

As stunt coordinator, Smrz — who first collaborated with Cruise on Mission: Impossible 2 — oversaw that scene and agrees that it's one for the record books. "I said to Brad, 'Do you have any idea what we're doing?'" he recalls. "'We're climbing 1,700 feet in the air, 200 feet up a building. This has never been done before, and it'll never be done again, because they're never going to allow it.' It's a work of art, and I don't think it can ever be beat as far as a climbing sequence on a building."

And as Smrz reveals, it's a stunt that very nearly didn't happen. Early on in pre-production, Paramount seemed poised to cancel Ghost Protocol outright before shooting started. "We had started prepping the building climb immediately on a studio lot, and were on the payroll for about before weeks when we heard that they were going to pull the plug. Tom went to have a meeting with [the studio] and we would know the outcome at the end of it."

Fortunately, Cruise emerged from that meeting with a greenlight, and Smrz and his team restarted preparations for pulling off the Burj Khalifa climb — a sequence that was always designed to serve as the movie's spectacular centerpiece. Initially skeptical that the building's owner would let them turn the 2,722-foot skyscraper into a movie set, the crew recreated three floors of the Burj on a soundstage in Prague. "We built an adjustable wall, slowly raised it until it was vertical and practiced for 200 hours on it with a crew of seven or eight guys. But Tom kept saying, 'I really want to climb that building.'"

Eventually, a compromise was reached: the production could shoot for one day on the exterior of the building, and the rest of the sequence would be shot on another 60-foot adjustable wall that has been constructed in the desert outside of Dubai. Once again, though, Cruise changed the course of production with a single sentence. "The first day [on the Burj] went so well that Tom said, 'We're filming the whole thing here on the real building.' We ended up doing one day of shooting over on the set, and the rest of it was on the real building."

With Cruise leading the charge, the Ghost Protocol crew worked out a deal with the building's owners that gave them full access to several floors that weren't yet in use. Smrz and his team then knocked out roughly 17 glass panels to make room for the stunt and camera cables and other rigging.

"I told them, 'We won't scratch your building; we're not going to damage anything.' As they saw that we were not destructive and really cared about their building, they started to work with us. There was this one guy I called Dr. No, because every time I'd ask if we could do something, he'd go, 'No!' at first. But towards the end, if I said, 'Hey, we need to drill another hole,' he'd say, 'Just tell me where.'"

As designed by Cruise, Bird and Smrz, the eight-minute Burj sequence has two distinct movements: Ethan's slow, deliberate climb up the side of the Burj in order to recover all-important nuclear launch codes and then his rapid descent. The upwards journey includes a gasp-inducing plunge where Hunt falls from an unsteady perch outside his target floor. Cruise performed the fall himself, dropping roughly forty feet from a height of 1,700 feet off the ground.

"That was probably the most nail-biting day of the show," Smrz says, adding that they only did a single take of Cruise's fall. "Somebody said, 'What if the cable breaks?' And I said, 'That's not an option.' We actually did the math, and there was enough time of free fall for him to text me on the way down, and for me to receive it!"

But Smrz also makes it clear that he would have overruled Cruise if he truly felt the star would be in danger. "If he wasn't an actor, Tom could have been a stuntman, and I would put anybody in anything if I didn't think it was safe for a stunt guy. I've got to be 99.9 percent sure it's going to be successful before we do it, whether it's a stunt person or an actor. So putting Tom into the harness was no different than a stunt guy. I expect the stunt to work, because we've already proven it over and over. "

Ethan's journey down the Burj starts with him running down the side of the building until he literally reaches the end of his rope. But he's the opposite of home free: He's still one floor above the rest of his team — William (Jeremy Renner), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Jane (Paula Patton) — and has to make a daring leap into the void to reach them. In order to gain the necessary momentum, Ethan runs in the opposite direction alongside the building and then power jumps into the air, swinging on the cable in a wide arc as he heads for the open window where William and Jane stand.

"When Tom swung on that rope around the building, Brad wanted him to go out farther," Smrz remembers. "I said, 'We'd have a problem: He has to come back, and I can't soften the impact on the glass. So the farther he goes out, the harder he's going to hit the glass, and he's already hitting it really hard.' Brad came from the world of animation where anything he wanted to do was possible, but I have a reputation for trying to keep everything real. I like to see when they hit the ground, that it hurts. But Brad was great to work with, because we'd always just sit down and talk and make sure we both were happy."

Ethan's cable swing also includes some shots that were filmed on the recreation of the Burj, including the moment where he unclips in mid-air and the moment where he flies at the window, hitting his head. But the scene where Renner clutches Cruise's leg high above Dubai was filmed on location. "We had Tom suspended on the real building, and then we dropped him," Smrz explains. "Jeremy and Paula were on cables, and they actually did dive out the window and caught Tom by his ankle. The actors did a fantastic job, especially because it was hot. We were working on glass, and it got up to 125 degrees."

The Burj Khalifa climb wasn't just a franchise-best stunt: It was also a personal best for Cruise, one that the actor has been trying to top ever since. "He wants to beat it," says Smrz, who hasn't worked on a Mission: Impossible movie since 2015's Rogue Nation , where Cruise awarded him the opportunity to choreograph the wild motorcycle chase of his dreams . "We took it to a whole other level, but it wasn't beating the building, you know what I mean? It was just a motorcycle chase. So they came up with that plane stunt . Tom's going to try to step it up to the next level in every movie, but he's also getting older: I used to tell him, 'Tom, you're going to end up walking like I do if you keep this up!'"

In that case, it's just as well that Cruise is better known for his running anyway. Asked about the actor's famously meme-friendly fleet feet , Smrz confirms he's the last person you want to be in a race with. "He can run 17-and-a-half miles an hour," he marvels. "In the scene where he's running away from the Burj, I had my stunt guys chasing him, and he was killing them. I said, 'Can you slow down a little?' And he started laughing and said, 'I'm not slowing down — tell them to speed up!' He's really fast and he has this odd style where he really lifts his legs high, and he's got the arms and legs pumping. Maybe that's his secret."

Reflecting on the Burj Khalifa climb a decade later, Smrz feels that it's increasingly rare for a studio to allow a movie star, and a stunt crew, the time and resources necessary to pull off a major setpiece on that level. "The big thing was that we really could have done that entire sequence on a stage and with visual effects. But Tom refuses to do that, because he wants climbing the Burj to be part of the thing that he does. He likes to do his own stuff, it's great for publicity and he enjoys it. It's always funny when somebody tells me, 'Tom's not going to do that — the studio's not going to allow it.' And I just say, 'He'll be doing it.'"

At the same time, with the tragedy on the set of Rust still fresh in everyone's minds , Smrz acknowledges that the industry is potentially facing widespread change in terms of how major action sequences are handled, especially when guns are involved. For his part, he believes that safety is always paramount even if it comes with a price tag. "I've been told [by studios], 'You and your guys are too expensive,'" Smrz says. "But at the end of every film, I always ask, 'Still think I'm too expensive?' and they go, 'No, we got what we paid for.' It's so busy out there right now ... and it has a lot to do with the experience of the person they hire. And right now, they're kind of hiring anybody, so it's a little scary.

"I don't think squibs and gunfire are going to go away," Smrz continues. "It's part of the job, and you have to be extra safe and unafraid to stand your ground. You have to be willing to get fired if you know that you're right and they want to push on anyway. On five occasions, I've started to walk off the set and never made it off because they realize how serious you are. You're willing to leave the movie, and that's what it takes if they expect us to keep it safe. I don't think it can get any safer: I mean, if they're going to make it so problematic that they'll just stop doing stuff, it'll all be cartoons."

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is currently streaming on Paramount+.

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Behind the scenes of Tom Cruise's Burj Khalifa stunt

Incredible footage of Cruise jumping out of windows of the 828 metre Burj Khalifa

Dubai: Take a look at this incredible behind-the-scenes video showing just how Tom Cruise did his stunts on the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, for his upcoming film Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol . Cruise shocked the world last October when he performed stunt after crazy stunt on the outside of the building, and here the film's director Brad Bird takes viewers inside the shooting with some incredible footage of Cruise jumping out of windows of the 828 metre skyscraper, swinging around the side of the building -- and even running down it. You won't believe your eyes.

The film releases in the UAE at Imax and standard cinemas on December 17.

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Burj Khalifa viral moments, including Tom Cruise stunt, Emirates advert and a giant ring

From blockbuster performances to digital recreations, here are five times the landmark has stood out from the crowd.

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. He performed his own stunts while filming one scene on Burj Khalifa. AP

Wednesday marks 13 years since Burj Khalifa was inaugurated, becoming the world’s tallest building and a global landmark.

Standing 828 metres tall, the structure took more than six years to build, at a cost of $1.5 billion.

In the years since, it has become more than just a building. It’s a tourist attraction, a space for art and celebration, a shooting location for countless films and music videos and the subject of several viral social media moments.

Here, The National looks at five times Burj Khalifa has been seen from a different perspective.

When Tom Cruise scaled it in Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol

Merely a year after Burj Khalifa was completed, it featured in one of the most memorable scenes from the 2011 blockbuster Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol .

Tom Cruise ’s character, secret agent Ethan Hunt, uses a pair of special suction gloves to reach the 130th floor. Known for doing his own stunts, Cruise shot scenes in which he walked sideways across the building’s exterior 518m in the air.

When a member of Emirates crew stood on top of it for an advert

New emirates video shows flight attendant on top of burj khalifa.

In 2021, Emirates caused a stir when it posted a video on social media appearing to show a flight attendant standing on top of Burj Khalifa , holding a sign celebrating the UAE being removed from the UK’s red list during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some questioned whether the video was fake, but the Dubai airline soon revealed it had enlisted the help of skydiver and stuntwoman Nicole Smith-Ludvik, who posed as crew for the ambitious shoot.

Smith-Ludvik did in fact stand on the building’s highest point strapped to a safety harness — a feat only achieved by a small handful of people — as she was filmed by helicopters and drones.

She later returned to the same spot for another video, this time promoting Emirates’ partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai.

When it was given a CGI umbrella to shelter from the rain

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Fazza (@faz3)

In December, Burj Khalifa was at the centre of a fun video to brighten up a grey and rainy day in the city. The viral clip , shared by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed , Crown Prince of Dubai, shows the top of the tower opening to produce an umbrella, sheltering itself from the rain.

The CGI video was produced as part of the city’s Dubai Destinations promotional campaign, which has created several images and clips that have gone viral in recent months. Videos include a summer campaign, which featured Burj Khalifa being used a ring toss for a giant flamingo pool inflatable.

When it lit up for special global events

Burj khalifa lights up in tribute to queen elizabeth ii.

Burj Khalifa is famous for its nightly projector light shows, which transform the outside of the structure into a colourful show that draws tourists from around the world. But it also produces several special lights shows to mark global events, from celebrations to memorials and everything in between.

It held a special memorial show following the death of UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa , who died in May aged 73.

In September, it commemorated the life of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II , following her death aged 96.

In November, it also lit up to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s historic World Cup win over eventual victors Argentina in the group stages, which shocked and delighted fans around the world in equal measure.

When it was surrounded by a futuristic ring design

In August, Burj Khalifa was — quite literally — at the centre of an ambitious architectural project , which would see it encircled by a 550-metre-tall ring structure.

The planned project by architecture firm Znera Space, known as Downtown Circle, would be a floating city concept that would change the emirate’s skyline as we know it.

With a circumference of 3km, the structure would consist of smaller units containing homes as well as public, commercial and cultural spaces, as well as a skypark and a tram that circles the outer perimeter.

However, the design is very much still a concept. “Our roles as architects is to come up with these ideas,” Najmus Chowdry, co-founder of Znera Space, previously told The National . “We want people to comment on it, criticise it, to see how we can think about building topographies.”

The Arts Edit

A guide to arts and culture, from a Middle Eastern perspective

The Hilarious Story Behind Tom Cruise’s Iconic ‘Mission Impossible’ Stunt

"Only Tom!"

Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

Apparently, Tom Cruise was not pleased when told a Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol stunt was going to be created digitally and he had an unintentionally funny response…

Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s most successful actors. The 59-year-old is renowned for his many acting accolades, starring in the iconic film Top Gun , and for performing all of his own stunts .

And the stunt that Cruise is most famous for has a rather funny story behind it. We’re, of course, talking about the Burj Khalifa stunt Cruise pulled off for the film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol , which was released in 2011.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest tower in the world and in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol , Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt must scale the outside of the building to the 130th floor, retrieve nuclear codes and then repel down it. And Cruise insisted on performing the dangerous stunt himself.

But according to Joseph Kahn, the filmmaker best known for directing numerous Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, and Eminem music videos, the original plan for the Burj Khalifa stunt was to CGI Cruise in. Taking to Twitter , Kahn wrote:

“Heard a great Tom Cruise story. On Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol they did an animatic of the Burj Khalifa sequence, explaining how there was going to be a digital Tom to do the stunts. var load_697084305 = function () { if (window.googletag && googletag.apiReady) { googletag.cmd.push(function () { var slot_697084305 = googletag.defineSlot("/1017963/DMarge/incontent", [[300,250],[320,100],[320,180],[336,280],[640,360]], "incontent-637934147").addService(googletag.pubads()); if (gamData && Object.keys(gamData).length != 0 && gamData.hasOwnProperty("sizeMap")) { slot_697084305.defineSizeMapping(gamData.sizeMap['incontent']); } googletag.display("incontent-637934147"); }); } } adsQueue.push(load_697084305); Tom then angrily said “THERE IS NO DIGITAL TOM! JUST TOM!” So they shot it for real.” Joseph Kahn

Kahn went on to say that Robert Elswit, who was the director of photography for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol , told him this hilarious story about Cruise.

This alleged (and funny) response from Cruise does seem legitimate; especially when you consider that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol ’s insurance company refused to insure the film if Cruise performed the Burj Khalifa stunt, so Cruise fired them and went and found an insurance company that would let him do the stunt.

In any case, whether Cruise actually said it or not, the line “There is no digital Tom! Only Tom!” is iconic.

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This Is How Tom Cruise And Mission: Impossible 5 Will Top The Burj Khalifa Stunt

With each passing film, the Mission: Impossible franchise somehow manages to top itself in the stunt department, and every time Tom Cruise is at the forefront of the action. Say what you will about the man's personal life, but his professional dedication to doing his own stunt work is something to be admired. This was especially impressive in 2011's Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol , when Tom Cruise memorably swung around the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai – the tallest building in the world. If you think that's the most impressive stunt in Mission: Impossible history, you''re absolutely right. At least, you will be until Mission: Impossible 5 .

The Daily Mail has reported in with photos and video of Tom Cruise on the set of the Christopher McQuarrie directed sequel, due for theatrical release next Christmas. Though, to be fair, the term "set" is a bit generous, as the venue for Cruise's latest stunt is an Airbus A400M aircraft being flown 5,000 feet above the English Countryside.

For reference, here's the full Burj Khalifa scene from Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol :

While he wasn't at the tip of the building for his stunt run (he saved that portion of the day for one of most epic self portraits of all time,) the Burj Khalifa only stands 2,717 feet tall. That's almost 2,300 feet below the altitudes Tom Cruise is currently flying at, dressed to the nines, with only a harness attached to the aircraft's door and his grip standing between him and actual oblivion. It's enough to make you want to ask Paramount Pictures how much they spend in insurance premiums alone on the Mission: Impossible films.

With Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol ranking in as the highest grossing film in the franchise, thanks to the $694.7 million it banked from worldwide venues, the house that Cruise built seems to be proving that so far the series has the perfect formula to success: throw in luxurious scenery and locales, sprinkle with tons of one liners and great action beats, and top everything with one, showstopping set piece that Tom Cruise risks his life to perfect – and you've got Paramount's winter tentpole golden boy.

Mission: Impossible 5 has the chance to be the only film that could take on Star Wars: Episode VII pound for pound in next Christmas' box office showdown; which automatically makes J.J. Abrams a winner either way – considering he's directing the latter and producing the former. While Star Wars is making a shift back to more traditional filming and effects methods from the series' days of glory, at least Mission: Impossible can say that they never had to return, because Tom Cruise would never let them leave.

Mission: Impossible 5 takes flight into theaters on December 25th, 2015.

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Why Is Tom Cruise Sitting On Top of the World's Tallest Building?

We got photographs and video of Tom Cruise jumping off the mid-section of the tallest skyscraper in the world . But this is him on the very top of the Burj Khalifa , filmed by an helicopter, taken around 1AM New York time.

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The photographer—Gerald Donovan—told us all the details:

He was up there for about an hour. Chopper circled several times very close. He's the only one that you can see, but on a video I have, you can see that there were other people up there but hiding down the spire. Lots and lots of filming was happening—both from the chopper and from below (check out the guy in the cradle hanging lower down the Burj on the left hand side). They were filming a 360 degree pan of him. My guess is that it's for promo, and maybe not for the film itself (in all the swinging shots he's wearing 3/4 length trousers. Here he's wearing jeans I think).

How did he get there?

1. He first took elevator BS1: Concourse (4.0 m.) to level 138 (508.2 m.) 2. Then got into elevator BS3: Level 138 to level 160 (621.3 m.) 3. From there, he got elevator BS4: Level 160 to section 18B (646.9 m.) You can also take the steep stairs/landings from 160 to 18B. 4. After that, he climbed the ladder from section 18B to section 19 (653.3 m.) 5. Went from section 19 to section 21 (691.7 m.) taking the steep stairs/landings. 6. Climbed the ladder inside the pinnacle pipe: Section 21 to top platform (826.6 m.)

Yes, that's 443 feet climbing up a ladder at the end. Seems like quite a trip. Cruise has been filming Mission Impossible 4 in Dubai during the last few weeks.

Image Copyright by Gerald Donovan. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. You can see the whole gigapan at Posterous .

Who Are The 7 People Who Went To Top of Burj Khalifa? Read On To Know

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Who Are The 7 People Who Went To Top of Burj Khalifa? Read On To Know

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Last Updated: January 24, 2024, 11:40 IST

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Who Are The 7 People Who Went To Top of Burj Khalifa?

From Tom Cruise to Will Smith, seven daring souls who climbed the top of Burj Khalifa.

In the heart of Dubai’s glittering skyline stands the awe-inspiring Burj Khalifa, a towering testament to human ingenuity and architectural prowess. Poking through the clouds like a futuristic needle, this iconic structure isn’t just a marvel of steel and glass—it’s a challenge, a beacon for the audacious. While millions have marvelled at its breathtaking height and shimmering lights, only a daring handful, a mere seven individuals, have ascended to its lofty summit since its inception. After all, scaling the Burj Khalifa isn’t just a physical feat; it’s a testament to the audacity of the human spirit, a dance with the clouds reserved for the boldest of thrill-seekers.

But who are these daredevils? From Tom Cruise to Will Smith, here take a look at the journey beyond the mundane, where the boundaries of possibility were stretched, and the sky was the limit – quite literally!

Tom Cruise – 2010

In his illustrious career filled with perilous feats, Tom Cruise etched his name in the annals of audacity by scaling the exterior of the Burj Khalifa in the fourth Mission Impossible installment. This audacious stunt required the actor to be equipped with a harness strategically fixed to the building, necessitating special permits for drilling on floors and walls. Director Brad Bird, known for animated classics like The Incredibles and Ratatouille, consulted experts from various fields to ensure the shoot’s safety. Cruise, true to his commitment to his craft, performed his own stunts, with the iconic Burj Khalifa sequence standing as irrefutable proof.

Sheikh Hamdan – 2018

Proving himself as a true athlete at heart, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, set a record by climbing the Burj Khalifa’s 160 floors in a mere 38 minutes. A video captured the journey from the base, showcasing Hamdan and his team donning weight jackets before embarking on the climb. The Crown Prince’s triumphant celebration on the 160th floor, coupled with his panting, demonstrated the physical rigor of this extraordinary accomplishment.

Also Read: Not Dubai’s Burj Khalifa But This China Tower Has The World’s Fastest Elevator

Nicole Smith-Ludvik – 2021

In Emirates Airlines’ viral ad campaign, Nicole Smith-Ludvik gained international attention standing atop the Burj Khalifa. The bold stunt, featuring her with sheets of paper reading ‘I’m still here’ and more, solidified her status as the only woman to perch on the world’s tallest building.

Also Read: Will Burj Khalifa Lose Its World’s Tallest Building Title To Jeddah Tower? Read On

Will Smith – 2021

A luminary in the entertainment world, Oscar-nominee Will Smith added another milestone to his illustrious career by climbing the Burj Khalifa. Documenting his weight loss journey in a YouTube series, Will used the tower’s 2,909 stairs for a cardio workout, concluding by ascending to the spire’s top. Accompanied by personal trainer Aaron Ferguson, the video showcased Will conquering the 160 floors in 51 minutes, as part of his series “Best Shape of My Life.”

Sam Sunderland – 2022

British motorcycle racer Sam Sunderland ventured beyond his usual desert racing terrain to film a promotional clip atop the Burj Khalifa. In a collaboration between Dubai Tourism and Red Bull, Sunderland donned in full riding gear, climbed the world’s tallest tower. The brief clip, titled “Yalla,” depicted him ascending a metal ladder, ultimately standing atop Dubai’s iconic landmark.

#WATCH : British motorcyclist @Sundersam has ditched the surroundings of #SaudiArabia ‘s deserts and off-road @dakar racing to film a promotional clip from atop the @BurjKhalifa in #Dubai (Video: @redbullGER ) @visitdubai https://t.co/9HPBTfNt9j pic.twitter.com/Ie45zcFui6 — Arab News (@arabnews) January 7, 2022

Alain Robert and Alexis Landot – 2023

In a remarkable feat in November 2023, renowned climbers Alain Robert and Alexis Landot scaled the Burj Khalifa to launch a global mountain clean-up. Adhering to safety regulations, they used ropes and harnesses but refrained from additional tools or assistance. Negotiating the tower’s facade, and overcoming challenges like strong winds and extreme heat, the duo demonstrated the strength of human determination against seemingly insurmountable odds.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alain Robert (@alainrobertofficial)

Aren’t these incredible folks practically shouting, “Hey, moving mountains? Piece of cake for us, just another thrilling item on our bucket list!”

• Burj Khalifa

• Newsroom Emirates

What do an Emirates Cabin Crew, Tom Cruise and the Crown Prince of Dubai have in common?

Emirates’ latest ad features its cabin crew on the tip of the burj khalifa, joining an elite group of individuals.

Dubai, UAE, 9 August 2021 – Emirates is no stranger to bold advertising but its latest commercial takes it up a notch. The new advertisement features an Emirates cabin crew member in full uniform standing tall on the tip of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar at 828 metres above ground. She joins only a handful of individuals who have had the privilege to stand at the pinnacle of the world’s tallest building – including Tom Cruise and the Crown Prince of Dubai, H.H Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The 30 second clip opens with a close up of the cabin crew holding up message boards in a nod to the famous scene in the 2003 cult hit “Love Actually”. As the camera pans out, audiences soon find that the crew, with her iconic red Emirates hat and uniform, is actually standing at the very top of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar, giving audiences a panoramic view of Dubai’s skyline. The behind the scenes edit can be viewed here , on Emirates YouTube channel and across the airline’s other social media channels.

“We always look to challenge the norm and push boundaries at Emirates. We do it every day through our innovative services, our best in class product and of course through our advertising. The calm and confidence of the cabin crew you see in the ad is an embodiment of our frontline team, serving travellers and ensuring their safety. We’re proud to be among a privileged few who have been allowed to film at the top of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar; and even prouder that we get to showcase our beautiful city, Dubai,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline.

Safety first

The ad was filmed without any green screen or special effects and was the result of rigorous planning, training, testing and a strict safety protocol. At the pinnacle of the building, the main protagonist had a reduced circumference space of only 1.2 metres at 828 metres high to pull off the stunt. A casting call was put out to Emirates’ very own cabin crew team and while there were some willing and capable candidates, a professional skydiving instructor was cast to ensure the highest levels of safety.

Throughout filming and in preparation of the shoot, safety remained the main priority. A custom platform with an attached pole was built at the top for the protagonist to stand on. She was attached to the pole as well as two other different points directly to the pinnacle, through a hidden harness under the Emirates uniform.

Filming started at sunrise to catch the golden hour light and the team, including the main star of the ad, began their ascent to the pinnacle before sunrise. The climb took 1 hour and 15 mins from level 160 of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar and the team had to scale several tiers and ladders inside a tube to reach the top. The team was at the pinnacle for around 5 hours with the stunt woman, wearing a safety harness under the Emirates uniform secured to a custom-made platform that was attached directly to the pinnacle. A single drone was used to capture the footage in a continuous take to film the complete sequence.

At 828 metres above ground this marks one of the highest ads ever filmed and was conceptualised and directed by Emirates’ in-house brand team with the help of Prime Productions AMG, based in Dubai.

The ad will be adapted for several markets across the Emirates network, incorporating relevant messages for different audiences. The first TV campaign will run in the UK.

More Information

About emirates.

The Emirates story started in 1985 when we launched operations with just two aircraft. Today, we fly the world’s biggest fleets of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s, offering our customers the comforts of the latest and most efficient wide-body aircraft in the skies.

We inspire travelers around the world with our growing network of worldwide destinations, industry leading inflight entertainment, regionally inspired cuisine, and world-class service.

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Simple Flying

Behind the scenes: emirates flight attendant ontop of the burj khalifa.

No, it was not a reshoot of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Nor was it Tom Cruise who recently stood on the top of the Burj Khalifa - although hats off to the man for always performing his own stunts. Rather, it was an honorary Emirates crew member along with a production team who scaled the tallest building in the world for an impactful new ad campaign. Now, the airline has released behind-the-scenes footage of the daring publicity event.

Over one hour of climbing before dawn

The video was released on Monday in response to those who might have questioned whether or not the ad had been shot on a green screen. The airline says it took meticulous planning and safety arrangements to prepare for the bold stunt . Special adjustments also had to be made to the Emirates cabin crew uniform to accommodate the hooks to the all-essential harness.

There was no helicopter used, as some have suggested, to propel the protagonist to the top. Rather, after taking the elevator up to the 160th level, the team then climbed for one hour and 15 minutes to reach the very top of the building. The top floor of Burj Khalifa, number 163, sits 242.6 meters lower than the actual pinnacle of the building.

One continuous take

The climb began while it was still dark outside in order to catch the 'golden hour' of the morning. Once up there, the protagonist had a specially constructed platform with a circumference space of 1.2 meters to stand on while holding up a set of message boards. The scene is reminiscent of the 2003 movie 'Love Actually', taking place mostly in London, in honor of the UK moving the UAE off its 'red' list of destinations.

The team was at the top for close to five hours. Filming was done with a single drone and the entire sequence was shot in one continuous take. The whole ad was conceptualized and directed by the airline's in-house team, with the help of Dubai-based Prime Productions AMG.

A very small tallest-tower club

A very select few have thus far been allowed at the top of Burj Khalifa. Among them are the aforementioned Tom Cruise and the Crown Prince of Dubai, H.H Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Sir Tim Clark , President of Emirates, commented on the event in a statement issued earlier today,

"The calm and confidence of the cabin crew you see in the ad is an embodiment of our frontline team, serving travellers and ensuring their safety. We’re proud to be among a privileged few who have been allowed to film at the top of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar and even prouder that we get to showcase our beautiful city, Dubai.”

Professional skydiving instructor

The footage kicks off with the Emirates flight attendant for a day, American stuntwoman - and travel agency owner - Nicole Smith-Ludvik, saying hi to her mom, telling her she is 'on top of the world'. Most mothers might have a minor heart attack seeing their child on a tiny platform at the top of the world's tallest building.

However, Smith-Ludvik is no stranger to heights. Usually, though, she enjoys them with a parachute attached to her back as a skydiving instructor, rather than scaling up towers. While a casting call went out to actual Emirates cabin crew, it was deemed safer to go with someone used to jumping out of fully functioning planes.

What do you think of Emirates' new ad? Would you climb the Burj Khalifa if you were allowed? Leave a comment and let us know.