Tom Cruise breaks record for fiery parachute jumps

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has earned a Guinness World Record for performing the most burning parachute jumps by an individual. He achieved this daring feat 16 times during the filming of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. In one of the film’s most thrilling sequences, Cruise, a trained skydiver, jumped from a helicopter with a parachute soaked in aviation fuel and set on fire. After each leap, he safely detached the burning parachute and used a backup to land.

Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief of Guinness World Records, praised Cruise, saying, Tom doesn’t just play action heroes – he is one. He noted Cruise's focus on authenticity and his dedication to pushing limits in filmmaking.

In the movie’s intense climax, Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt fights the villain Gabriel (played by Esai Morales) mid-air in vintage 1940s planes flying over South Africa’s Drakensberg mountains. Some scenes were shot with a 50-pound camera rig attached to Cruise to capture close-up shots during freefall.

Cruise’s record adds to his long list of achievements, including holding the record for the most consecutive $100-million-grossing films. Since his breakout role in Risky Business (1983), he has starred in more than 30 movies, delivering several blockbuster hits.

Cruise has redefined movie stunts with each Mission: Impossible film — from scaling the Burj Khalifa to clinging to planes mid-air. The Final Reckoning premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and features an ensemble cast including Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, and Angela Bassett.