Dubai: Why is Tom Cruise's daredevil Burj Khalifa stunt going viral again?

The superstar is currently promoting his latest Mission: Impossible film Dead Reckoning, but it's the previous instalment, Ghost Protocol, that fans are talking about

The blockbuster success of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has put Tom Cruise back in the headlines recently — yet netizens seem stuck in 2011, when the Hollywood star scaled Dubai's iconic landmark Burj Khalifa in a daring stunt for Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.

Parts of the latest Mission Impossible film, released on July 9, were also shot in the UAE — particularly at Abu Dhabi's Midfield Terminal and the Liwa Desert.

However, the Internet still can't get enough of the moment when Cruise's character Ethan Hunt climbed to the Burj Khalifa's 130th floor using a pair of special suction gloves. He walked sideways across the building’s exterior, as he hung 518m up in the air. This was released 12 years ago — but everyone remembers it like yesterday:

Remember how he also sat right at the top of the Burj Khalifa — even if he didn't really have to? This wasn't part of the movie but there he is, chilling like he was seated in some comfy armchair:

Back in 2021, actor Matt Damon revealed how Tom Cruise had apparently fired his insurance company back in 2011, after they refused to cover his Burj Khalifa stunt.

Quoting Cruise, Damon said: "Well, I went to the safety guy. I’d been dreaming of this stunt for years, and I went to the safety guy, and I explained what I was going to do, and the guy said it was too dangerous. So I got another safety guy."