How the Tom Cruise 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony Stunt Stayed Secret

Ben Winston may quickly lose rely of what number of instances he’s despatched Tom Cruise up within the air.

Beforehand, the pair labored to get James Corden in aloft to go skydiving after which once more to co-pilot a fighter jet on The Late Late Present. Throughout Sunday night time’s LA28 section of the Paris Olympics‘ Closing Ceremony, Winston had the stunt-loving Mission Unimaginable star soar off the Stade du France in real-time and revealed the fruits of the year-and-a-half-long collaboration with the pre-taped shot of him skydiving with the Olympic flag over the hills of Southern California.

The unique plan was for a balaclava-clad stunt particular person to do a lot of the heavy lifting, however Cruise would have none of it. “I don’t suppose there’s anyone like him on the planet,” says Winston, who served as artistic director and government producer below the Fulwell 73 Productions banner. “There isn’t any higher collaborator.”

Talking the afternoon after the dwell Paris soar and the starry beachside live performance that includes The Purple Sizzling Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, Winston revealed how he and Cruise saved most of their plan below wraps for so long as they did, what modified within the planning and the unlikely roots of the Olympic flag’s pre-taped journey from France to the U.S.

Are you only a glutton for logistics?

It feels slightly bit like having a child. You’re up all night time, it’s all actually tense and also you’re altering nappies, and so they’re sick on you. Then, after they get to a few years outdated, you’re like, “Oh, they’re so cute and beautiful. I believe I would like one other one.” You overlook what a nightmare it was. I really feel like dwell tv could be that. You overlook how a lot you undergo.

Lots has been revealed and speculated about within the wake of this stunt. How lengthy have you ever really been engaged on this? 

My first assembly was January 2022 once I sat down with Casey Wasserman at LA28. I haven’t been engaged on it since then, however I had the concept extra like 20 months in the past after they’d instructed me there’s this custom of a 12-minute present that the subsequent nation does within the closing ceremony. Throughout the first 5 minutes, I used to be like, “Nicely, it will be the good factor if we snatched the flag, and we might get Tom Cruise to do it.”

In a number of nations, no much less.

I’ve seen plenty of handovers the place the nation that takes over does one thing within the stadium, and so they’ve been nice, however I wished to do one thing completely different. I like to have the ability to management the whole lot. So I used to be considering if we did it in Los Angeles, I’d be capable of management all the weather slightly bit extra. I appreciated the concept of doing the majority of it in Los Angeles however with an incredible open in Paris. That is such a bizarre reference, however keep in mind when Conan O’Brien began on The Tonight Present and moved from New York to Los Angeles? He did a very enjoyable sketch going cross nation. That has all the time caught with me. So I used to be like, “How do Tom Cruise and all these unimaginable athletes take that flag from Paris to L.A.?” It’s a bizarre inspiration. 

No, I keep in mind that. I can see the through-line.

Yeah. Then, I pitched it to Tom. He was the primary pitch I had. If he hadn’t gone with it, I can’t actually suppose who else would work. Who else is synonymous with motion and an American hero? After we bought Tom, I felt like the entire thing would work — so we went from there. Nevertheless it’s been over a yr and a half to realize that. 

How’d you pitch it to Tom? That is the third time you’ve put him in a aircraft after the Late Late Present segments with Corden.

We developed a relationship these previous few years. I believe he all the time trusted us and James to do high-quality stuff. I simply pitched to him from begin to end. That first pitch included each factor that you just noticed final night time. Solely, once I instructed him, it was a person in a balaclava who jumped from the roof of the stadium. Tom’s suggestions was, “I like the concept, solely we’re not doing a stuntman in a balaclava. I’m going to be the one who jumps off the roof, and I’m going to be the one who drives by means of Paris.” Clearly, that’s higher for me. The one purpose I pitched the balaclava is as a result of it was the distinction between a one-day shoot and a four-day shoot plus rehearsals. 

Some issues leaked, however you filmed the skydive and the Hollywood signal again in March. How’d you retain it secret for so long as you probably did? 

After we had been filming with Tom, he was by no means really holding the Olympic flag. He all the time was holding a white flag. So, at any time when we had been photographed with him, the press all the time mentioned we had been filming Mission Unimaginable. Everybody wonders what was faked and what wasn’t. Curiously, one of many solely issues that was faked was the flag. I used to be disenchanted that little issues leaked during the last couple of weeks. All of the sudden, increasingly more folks have to know what you’re doing while you’re rehearsing within the Stade de France and reserving venues.

Such an enormous deal is made about Tom and the lengths he goes to execute a stunt on his personal. I perceive who insures him in a film like Mission Unimaginable, however what about right here, is that your purview? You might be placing a really well-known man in a dangerous scenario. 

I’m not certified to reply that. (Laughs.) There can be a crew of legal professionals on my manufacturing crew and his crew that will learn about that. However you’re proper. It was undoubtedly a consideration once we had been doing the High Gun stuff for The Late Late Present. It was like, “Nicely, who does the legal responsibility lie with — the present or Tom?” I nonetheless don’t know the reply on this one.

Inform me about how the plan modified over the yr and a half. There have been stories about just a few issues, together with the live performance venue altering to Lengthy Seashore. 

It’s humorous as a result of I’ve seen stories about what was dwell and what wasn’t dwell. Not everyone’s a 100% proper on the whole lot, and I don’t wish to remark both method. It’s not truthful on some artists to say some had been dwell and a few weren’t or no matter. However I believe there was much more live-in there than folks suppose. Will Rogers Seashore was the plan a yr in the past — and, resulting from one thing out of my management, that needed to change. With 4 weeks to go, we didn’t have a venue. That was a tense second. Finally we bought there and I used to be so happy with the live performance factor of it.

Did you ever try to really redecorate the Hollywood signal? 

I did have a look at doing the Hollywood signal for actual. We had engineers up there fairly a very long time, figuring out how we might do it. I made a decision towards it as a result of I wished it to be a shock. In the long run, I believe we might have accomplished it, however then in March, the entire world would have seen photos of the Hollywood signal coated within the Olympic rings. So we did it with CGI. The Tom bit is actual. He was up there. He climbed up the signal.

You booked Snoop Dogg, a nationwide treasure and somebody so synonymous with Los Angeles, a very long time in the past — but his inventory has risen much more within the final two weeks. Have been you psyched watching him turn into one of many stars of the Olympics? 

Honestly, I’ve been in Paris doing rehearsals with Tom after which in London. I solely bought again to L.A. on Wednesday to start out the rehearsals for the live performance. Clearly, you don’t get the NBC protection in Paris or London. However I used to be seeing on-line what an incredible Olympics he was having and the way everybody was falling in love with him. It was unimaginable. He was the star of the present. And I knew he was the one who’d carry that flag to the stage. It began with Tom and ended with Snoop. 

Nicely, I hope you get a little bit of a break.

No. (Laughs.) This week we’re filming Ellen DeGeneres’ stand-up present. Actually enthusiastic about that. After which it’s on to the Paralympics closing. However I did have like 13 hours of sleep final night time. I went to mattress at 9 o’clock.