In addition to breaking some box office records, Tom Cruise‘s performance in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning earned him a Guinness World Record.
The 4x Oscar nominee 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.
“Tom doesn’t just play action heroes – he is an action hero!” said Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records editor-in-chief in a statement. “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.”
Filming the sequence in Drakensberg, South Africa, Cruise and the stunt team prepared for weeks before ascending more than 75,000 feet in the chopper, from which the actor jumped with the flaming parachute before cutting himself free and deploying a backup parachute.
For several of the takes, Cruise had a 50 lb. snorri camera rig attached to his body for a closer shot of the fiery stunt.
A behind-the-scenes featurette of the scene revealed 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,” said Cruise with a laugh.
From Deadline.com