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How Tom Cruise Filmed that Ghost Protocol’s Burj Khalifa climbing Stunt

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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In Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise ascended the Burj Khalifa.

Tom Cruise’s show of heroism on the exterior of the world’s tallest building in the fourth chapter of Mission Impossible is possibly his most recognized stunt among his lengthy list of incredibly risky stunts. Since then, he has proceeded to defy death in a number of films, including the HALO leap in Mission Impossible: Fallout. Even so, Ethan Hunt clinging to a skyscraper’s windows for his life with only a pair of suction gloves has become a cinematic icon.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Ghost Protocol stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz — who worked with Cruise for the first time on Mission: Impossible 2 — discusses the moment and says that it’s one for the record books. He recalls asking Brad Bird, ‘Do you have any idea what we’re doing? 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.”

After Kurt Hendricks, a.k.a. Cobalt (Michael Nyquist), a Russian nuclear strategist, steals a lethal weapon in order to spark a nuclear war between the US and Russia, Ghost Protocol sends Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt to Dubai in quest of nuclear launch codes. Fans of the Mission Impossible franchise know that neither the franchise nor its hero are known for taking the easy way out. So Ethan Hunt must climb to the 130th story of the 2,722-foot building and use a pair of unique suction gloves instead of the elevator (one of which quickly malfunctions). Of course, he has a 123-floor head start, but it just adds to the spine-chilling nature of the beginning of his ascent. As if that weren’t enough, he then rappels down the structure and takes a leap of faith at the same window from which he exited, just missing it and dangling from one of his foot with the assistance of William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Jane Carter (Paula Patton).

To get Tom Cruise and the cameras out on the building, the studio had to secure authorization to cut holes and shatter windows, according to the behind-the-scenes film. They sought advice from expert climbers and stuntmen, as well as architects and engineers, to ensure that the stunt would be carried out safely and responsibly.

The crew replicated three floors of the Burj on a staging in Prague, first apprehensive that the building’s owner would allow them to transform the 2,722-foot tower into a movie set. “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.'”

A compromise was eventually reached: the production would shoot on the exterior of the building for one day, and the remainder of the scene would be shot on a 60-foot moveable wall built in the desert outside of Dubai. Cruise, on the other hand, changed the direction of the film once more with a single statement. “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.”

Because the helicopters can only stay in the air for a half hour at a time, the filming would be hindered. Because the action was shot using IMAX cameras, which burn through film fast, reloading the film increased to the production time.

The tape was then transported back to Los Angeles, where Brad Bird couldn’t verify if everything was in order until it was produced a few days later.

The eight-minute Burj sequence features two different motions, as created by Cruise, Bird, and Smrz: Ethan’s slow, careful ascent up the side of the Burj in order to collect all-important nuclear launch codes, and then his fast fall. Hunt falls from a shaky position outside his target floor, causing gasps from the audience. Cruise did the fall personally, falling around forty feet from a height of 1,700 feet above 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!”

Tom Cruise has many secrets. Could a fake butt be one of them? Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

Tom Cruise was well-known for his professional stunt work, which he did without the use of a double. He seems so game for anything and yet totally Zen about it all, driven by his love for making movies and performing these wild, insane stunts. Whether he was scared or not, he looked completely absorbed in the filming. He needed to be quick, as he was portraying Ethan Hunt while simultaneously ascending the world’s highest skyscraper.

The Mission: Impossible trick required extensive and meticulous preparation. To acquaint Tom Cruise with the pain of the harness and the physical toll of the climb, the crew created a glass wall to replicate the façade of the real skyscraper and had him climb up and down multiple times. They also used artificial lights to heat up the wall to mimic the warmth of the Burj Khalifa’s windows. All of Cruise’s planning seemed to pay off, as he pulled off the trick as if it were any other.

It may appear wild, but people who are familiar with Tom Cruise’s expertise would never mistake him for a daredevil. He was well-prepared and clever, enlisting the support of pros and experts to carry out the scene.