Tom Cruise to Highlight Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony with Special Flag Handover
Tom Cruise will be a key highlight at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony, handing over the flag to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games. Learn about the exciting plans for the event.
Bollywood Fever: After delivering a star-studded opening ceremony featuring the comeback of Celine Dion, Paris Olympics artistic director Thomas Jolly is enlisting one of Hollywood’s biggest names for the Games’ closing ceremony on Aug. 11.
Tom Cruise, currently filming “Mission: Impossible 8” in Europe, attended the opening ceremony as well as women’s gymnastics and swimming competitions.
He will be a highlight of the closing ceremony, a source close to the Olympics organizing committee confirmed to Variety.
In May, the French blog Sortir à Paris reported that Cruise was filming a scene riding a motorcycle with a large flag, departing from the Arc de Triomphe and driving along the iconic Champs-Élysées Avenue.
The actor, who was recently inducted as a Knight of France’s prestigious Legion of Honor, will be handing over the flag to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games.
Titled “Records” and hosted indoors on the 2,800 square meter stage of the Stade de France, the closing ceremony promises “new interpretations” and will “take spectators on a journey through time, both past and future,” organizers stated.
The show will chart milestones throughout the history of the Olympic Games, believed to date back to Ancient Greece.
Jolly faced controversy with the opening ceremony’s scene featuring a singer costumed as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, alongside dazzling drag queens, which some saw as a reference to Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
The artistic director denied this, saying he intended to portray “a grand pagan festival connected to the gods of Olympus.” It remains to be seen how Greek mythology references will play out in the closing ceremony.
The show will bring together “world famous performers” and “over a hundred performers, acrobats, dancers, and circus artists,” including a performance set in a dystopian environment and a choreography involving the Olympic rings, representing the world’s five continents.
The organizers’ challenge will be to match the excitement and emotion of Celine Dion’s performance at the Eiffel Tower base and Lady Gaga’s cabaret-inspired musical act along the Seine river.
With the closing ceremony indoors, they can avoid the weather issues that affected the opening ceremony, which took place under pouring rain and forced Gaga to pre-tape her segment.
While the opening ceremony sparked controversy, mainly among conservative Christians, it was widely celebrated.
The creative team behind the show are finalists for this year’s IBC Innovation Awards, which honor collaborative initiatives in media, entertainment, and technology.
More Articles, Tori Spelling Considers OnlyFans to Afford Kids’ College Tuition
Christine McGuinness Stuns in Cut-Out Bikini During Summer Holiday
