Tom Cruise hangs off world’s tallest building for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol stunt

Remember the opening sequence to Mission: Impossible 2, when Tom Cruise ignored warnings from producers, and insisted on doing much of the rock-climbing work at Dead Horse Point in Utah? Well, he’s at it again, this time for the latest sequel in the M:I franchise, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

According to Moviefone, last Saturday, Cruise spent the day shooting scenes for Ghost Protocol. Fans gathered not just to get a peek at the movie star, but also grit their teeth in terror, as they watched Cruise perform a mind-blowing stunt on the world’s tallest building.

Standing at 2,717 foot, the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai, is the world’s tallest man-made structure. Cruise hung from the 124th floor of its observation deck, successfully pulling off a dangerous chase scene with another actor. A helicopter circled the actors just a few feet away, while the crew shot the stunt from the floor above.

After filming the death-defying act, Cruise hurried to a Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol press conference, without a scratch.

And, if anyone doubts that Cruise was actually up there, Moviefone received confirmation from Paramount Pictures that it was indeed Cruise up on those cables.

Paramount has set a December 18, 2011 release date for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, which is being directed by Brad Bird, and also stars Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Josh Holloway, Léa Seydoux, Anil Kapoor and Vladimir Mashkov. They’re working from a story by Cruise & Mission Impossible 3 director J.J. Abrams – whose producing the sequel – and a script by Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec.