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Tom Cruise shocked Londoners after he was spotted on the roof of the BFI IMAX building during his visit to the capital this weekend.
The 62-year-old actor was in town to receive an honorary British Film Institute Fellowship, with the organisation celebrating his versatile career. It has spanned critically acclaimed dramas including Rain Man (1988), romances such as Jerry Maguire (1996) and action films, including Top Gun (1986).
Cruise was filmed by passersby on the roof of the landmark cinema wearing a tuxedo. The building houses the UK’s largest cinema screen, which is 65 feet high – the equivalent of five double decker buses – and 85 feet wide.
The shock appearance seemed to be a promotional stunt for his new film Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The sequel is scheduled for release on 23 May and, with an estimated budget of $400m (£320m), will be one of the most expensive films ever made.
Cruise will reprise his role as super spy Ethan Hunt for what has been perceived to be the franchise’s final instalment. Severance actor Tramell Tillman and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham will also appear.
In the forthcoming film, Ethan faces his most dangerous enemy yet: an artificial intelligence known as the Entity. The plot picks up from the franchise’s previous instalment, which saw him in possession of the key necessary to defeat the Entity. But before he can use it, he must find the source code needed to destroy the technology, which is lost in a sunken Russian submarine.
Cruise’s BFI IMAX stunt is the latest of many daredevil exploits the actor has undertaken throughout his career. Last August, the Mission: Impossible lead jumped from the roof of the Stade de France during the Olympic handover ceremony from Paris to Los Angeles.
Speaking to Edith Bowman at an event celebrating his BFI Fellowship on Sunday night (11 May), Cruise admitted he’d enjoyed scaling buildings ever since he was a child – much to the alarm of his neighbours.
“I was a kid that opened a window and I’d crawl on the roof and look at the stars. I’d wake up and I’d sneak out and I was three years old,” he explained. “The neighbours called and said ‘I think there’s a child.’ Or, I’d climb a tree. Just, everything was an adventure to me. It still is.”
Cruise will officially receive the BFI Fellowship on Monday (12 May) at the BFI Chair’s Dinner, hosted by the corporation’s Chair, Jay Hunt.
Previous honorees include Ridley Scott, Orson Welles, Steve McQueen, David Lean, Tilda Swinton, Satyajit Ray, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and Spike Lee.
English (US) ·