LOS ANGELES — Hollywood star and four times Oscar nominee Tom Cruise’s
performance in his latest film “Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning” has
earned him a Guinness World Record.
The actor has set the record for most burning parachute
jumps by an individual after jumping out of a helicopter 16 times with a
fuel-soaked chute set ablaze in a stunt for the final installment in the action
franchise, reports deadline.com.
“Tom doesn’t just play action heroes – he is an action
hero!” said Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records editor-in-chief in a
statement.
Glenday added: “A large part of his success can be
chalked up to his absolute focus on authenticity and pushing the boundaries of
what a leading man can do. It’s an honour to be able to recognize his utter
fearlessness with this new Guinness World Records title.”
Cruise and the stunt team prepared for weeks before
ascending more than 75,000 feet in the helicopter, from which the star jumped
with the flaming parachute before cutting himself free and deploying a backup
parachute. It was being shot in Drakensberg, South Africa.
For several of the takes, Cruise had a over 22 Kgs (50
lb) snorri camera rig attached to his body for a closer shot of the fiery
stunt.
A behind-the-scenes moment of the scene showed all 16
takes after the actor walked through the stunt with the crew.
“We’re gonna be real smart. I’m not saying be risky. We
don’t take risks… obviously,” Cruise had said.
“Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning” follows
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and is the eighth installment in
the Mission: Impossible film series.
The film is directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Cruise
reprises his role as Ethan Hunt, alongside Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon
Pegg, Henry Czerny, and Angela Bassett.
In the film, Hunt and his Impossible Mission Force team
work to prevent the Entity, a rogue AI, from unleashing global destruction
against humanity.
The filming locations included England, Malta, South
Africa and Norway. It is nominally one of the 20 most expensive films ever
made.