Cruise climbed to approximately 518 metres above the ground with no stunt double, attached only by a safety harness drilled into the building. It remains one of the most famous practical stunts ever filmed.
Some things in action films look real but are not. This is not one of them. When you watch Tom Cruise running across the outside of the Burj Khalifa in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, that is actually him, actually on the building, actually 518 metres above the ground in Dubai.
This guide covers the full story behind the stunt. You will find out how they got permission to drill into the world’s tallest building, how the harness system worked, which parts were filmed on the real building and which used VFX, and where visitors can stand today to see the same view Cruise had when the cameras were rolling.
Source: Yahoo.com
Did Tom Cruise Actually Climb the Burj Khalifa?
Yes. This has been confirmed by Tom Cruise himself in multiple interviews, by director Brad Bird, by stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz, and by the IMDB production notes for the film. No stunt double was used for the exterior climbing sequences on the actual building.
Cruise dangled from the outside of the Burj Khalifa at approximately 1,700 feet, which is 518 metres above the ground. He was attached to the building by a safety harness connected to anchor points that the production team had drilled into the structure at strategic locations. The harness was there, but the height was completely real.
Cruise has built his career around doing exactly this. He does not use stunt doubles for the major physical sequences in the Mission Impossible franchise because he believes the audience can feel the difference between a real stunt and a performed one. His philosophy is that the camera captures genuine fear and genuine effort in a way that no performance can replicate. For everything about the building he climbed, see our full guide to Burj Khalifa: The World’s Tallest Building.
Which Film Features the Burj Khalifa Stunt?
The film is Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, the fourth film in the Mission Impossible franchise. It was released on December 15, 2011, first in IMAX and then in wide release. The director was Brad Bird, best known at the time for animated films including The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Ghost Protocol was his first live-action feature.
The film broke franchise box office records at the time, earning USD 210 million domestically and over USD 694 million worldwide. A significant part of that success was driven by word of mouth about the Burj Khalifa sequence, which audiences and critics consistently named as the standout scene of the film.
In the film, Ethan Hunt needs to reach a server room on floor 130 of the Burj Khalifa to retrieve nuclear launch codes before a terrorist named Kurt Hendricks uses them. His team’s tech is malfunctioning, which is a deliberate choice by director Brad Bird. Bird wanted every piece of gadgetry in the scene to fail so that the physical stunt itself carried the full weight of the tension.
The famous “blue is glue, red is dead” suction gloves that Cruise uses to scale the glass exterior are the centrepiece of that gadget failure sequence. For a full breakdown of the floors inside the building, see our Burj Khalifa floors guide.
Which Floors Were Used for Filming?
In the film, the target is floor 130. The actual filming took place on the exterior sections of the building around floors 123 to 130, at a height of approximately 518 metres above the ground. At the time of filming, these floors were corporate office space that was either unoccupied or partially fitted out.
The production team removed 17 glass panels from the building’s facade to make room for rigging equipment, anchor cables, and camera gear. Each panel was carefully removed, stored, and reinstalled after filming was complete. The drilling of anchor points into the building’s exterior frame required separate permits on top of the general filming permission.
The height of the filming location sits in the same range as the At The Top observation deck on floors 124 and 125. Floor 124 is at 452 metres and floor 125 is at 456 metres. Cruise was filming at around 518 metres, which is slightly above the standard observation deck but significantly below the At The Top SKY deck on floor 148 at 555 metres. For full height measurements at each level, our Burj Khalifa height guide covers all the numbers.
How Did the Production Team Get Permission to Film on the Burj Khalifa?
Getting permission to drill anchor points into the world’s tallest building and hang a major Hollywood star off the outside of it is not a straightforward conversation. The production team went through months of negotiation before anyone said yes.
Stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz led the permission process and has spoken about it in interviews. He described the early meetings with Emaar and the building’s management team as a series of refusals. His nickname for the building official who turned down every initial request was “Dr. No.” Every approach the team made was rejected on safety, legal, or structural grounds until Smrz’s team found a way to address each objection with a specific engineering solution.
The breakthrough came when the production team agreed to work within a strict set of conditions. They would not make any permanent modifications to the building. They would restore every panel and surface to its original condition after filming.
They would submit detailed engineering drawings of every rigging attachment point for review. And they would conduct full load testing on every anchor before any person went near the exterior. That level of commitment and detail is what eventually turned the “Dr. No” into a yes.
The production also worked closely with Jamal Al Sharif, who was heading Dubai Studio City at the time. Dubai’s government was actively trying to attract international film productions, and the Burj Khalifa sequence became one of the most significant productions the emirate had hosted up to that point.
For background on who owns and runs the building, see our Burj Khalifa owner guide.
How Was the Stunt Actually Set Up?
The sequence on the outside of the Burj Khalifa did not happen in a single day or even a single week. Here is how the production team built up to the moment Cruise stepped outside.
How Tom Cruise Filmed on Burj Khalifa — Safety Steps
Site Assessment
Professional high-altitude riggers assessed the exterior to identify structurally sound anchor points. Not every section of the glass-and-steel façade is suitable for load-bearing rigging. The team mapped out exactly where harness cables could be safely fixed before any planning was finalised.
Panel Removal
The 17 glass panels identified for removal were taken out carefully by specialist glazing contractors. Each panel was catalogued, stored on-site, and replaced exactly as it had been once filming concluded.
Rigging Installation
The harness anchor system was installed into points approved by Emaar’s structural engineers. The system used redundant attachment points — multiple anchor locations simultaneously — so no single point bore the full load. 💡 This is standard practice for high-altitude rigging of this type.
Equipment Testing
Every rigging component was load-tested before Cruise was allowed near the exterior. The suction gloves used as props were designed with industrial adhesion engineers and tested on scaled mock-ups of the building’s glass panels. 💡 The prop gloves were functional but not rated to support full body weight — the hidden harness was the real safety system throughout.
Wind Monitoring
Wind speed at filming height was monitored throughout each shooting day. Filming was halted whenever conditions exceeded the safety parameters set by the rigging team. 💡 Gregg Smrz confirmed the team worked within a defined wind speed range and stopped the moment conditions moved outside it.
Cruise’s Training
Cruise underwent weeks of specific preparation for the exterior sequences — getting comfortable at extreme heights, practising camera movements, and rehearsing the full sequence on a mock-up rig before attempting it on the actual building.
The full filming of the exterior Burj Khalifa sequences took several shooting days spread across the production schedule in Dubai.
The VFX Trick Most People Never Noticed
The Burj Khalifa stunt is genuinely one of the most practical stunts in modern cinema. Most of what you see in the film is exactly what it looks like: a real person on a real building at a real height. But not every single shot was filmed on the actual exterior of the Burj Khalifa.
One specific part of the sequence was filmed on a partial set built in Vancouver, only about 20 feet off the ground. ILM visual effects artist Todd Vaziri revealed this detail in a session with the Corridor Crew YouTube channel. The shot in question involves a camera angle that would have been physically impossible to achieve at 518 metres on the real building due to the position and movement required for the camera rig.
The production used a real glass panel from the building, set up a matching section of exterior frame in Vancouver, and filmed the specific shot at low altitude. The background was then composited digitally using reference footage of the real Dubai skyline. The sandstorm that rolls in during the sequence is also a visual effects addition. The base reflection of Cruise on the glass is real, but the sky and city environment behind it in those specific shots was built in post-production.
This is standard practice in practical stunt filmmaking and does not diminish the achievement of the real sequences. The point is that the vast majority of the Burj Khalifa scene involved the actual building, the actual height, and no safety net beyond the harness. The VFX work filled in the camera angles that physics would not allow. For more on the observation deck experience near the filming height, see our At The Top Burj Khalifa guide.
What Actually Happens in the Burj Khalifa Scene?
The Burj Khalifa sequence runs for approximately eight minutes of screen time and splits into two distinct physical sections, as confirmed by Gregg Smrz.
The first section is the climb up. Ethan Hunt uses the malfunctioning suction gloves to scale the glass exterior of the building from a lower floor up toward floor 130 where the server room is located. The gloves keep failing and reattaching at the worst possible moments, which is exactly what Brad Bird wanted. Every piece of technology in the scene is designed to make the audience feel like the mission is on the edge of failure the entire time.
The second section is the descent. After the server room sequence is completed, Hunt needs to get back down to his team quickly. The method he uses for the descent involves running down the exterior of the building in a controlled rappel at speed, which required a separate rigging setup from the climb sequence.
Jeremy Renner’s character William Brandt is involved in the sequence from inside the building, providing the counterpoint to Cruise’s exterior work. The contrast between the two characters during this sequence, one outside the building at 518 metres and one watching from inside, is one of the things that makes the scene work dramatically beyond just the physical spectacle.
The Dubai section of the film also shot scenes around the wider city including streets and interior locations. The Burj Khalifa Fountain Show area near the building’s base is visible in some of the wider Dubai establishing shots used in the film.
What Did the Film Do for Dubai and the Burj Khalifa?
When Ghost Protocol released in December 2011, the Burj Khalifa had been open for less than two years. A lot of international audiences had seen photos of the building but had no visceral sense of its scale or its place in the world.
The film changed that in about eight minutes. Audiences in cinemas around the world watched a real person climb the outside of the building at 518 metres and could feel the height in a way that no photograph or documentary had managed before. The sequence put the Burj Khalifa into popular culture in a way that conventional tourism marketing could not have bought.
Visitor numbers to the At The Top observation deck increased significantly after the film was released. Many visitors specifically say they want to stand on the same floors used for filming. Dubai Studio City has used the production as a major case study for attracting international film productions to the emirate.
The Armani Hotel inside the building also saw increased interest from guests who connected the building with the film. For everything about staying inside the building, see our Armani Hotel Dubai guide.
Other Burj Khalifa Appearances in Film and TV
Ghost Protocol is the most famous but it is not the only time the Burj Khalifa has appeared on screen.
Fast and Furious 7 (2015) features Downtown Dubai prominently including aerial shots of the Burj Khalifa as part of the film’s Dubai sequence. The production filmed in Dubai across multiple locations and used the city’s skyline extensively throughout the third act.
Independence Day Resurgence (2016) includes the Burj Khalifa in a destruction sequence where alien forces tear through the world’s major landmarks. The building appears briefly before being destroyed as part of a sequence showing global devastation.
Star Trek Beyond (2016) features a futuristic space station city called Yorktown whose architectural design drew direct visual inspiration from Dubai’s real skyline, including elements that reference the Burj Khalifa’s silhouette.
The building has also appeared in numerous documentary series, travel programmes, music videos, and branded content productions. Dubai’s infrastructure for international film production has improved significantly since Ghost Protocol and the city now hosts a growing number of major productions each year. For the dining experience on floor 122 of the building, our Atmosphere Burj Khalifa guide covers everything.
How Does the Burj Khalifa Stunt Compare to Cruise’s Other Stunts?
The Mission Impossible franchise has become one of the most ambitious stunt programmes in cinema history. The Burj Khalifa sequence sits in the conversation for the best of the series but it has genuine competition from the stunts that came after it.
Rogue Nation (2015) opened with Cruise hanging off the exterior of an Airbus A400M military transport plane during actual takeoff. The plane was in the air. Cruise was outside it.
Fallout (2018) included a HALO jump from a C-17 aircraft that required 106 individual jumps to get the single shot used in the film. It also included a helicopter sequence filmed with Cruise at the controls.
Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) featured Cruise riding a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff in Norway before base jumping into a valley below. He trained for over a year for that single shot.
The Final Reckoning (2025) reportedly includes an underwater sequence where Cruise attempted to reclaim his personal breath-hold record from Rogue Nation, which stood at six minutes.
Gregg Smrz said after Ghost Protocol that a stunt of this type on a building of this significance would likely never be done again.
The combination of the building, the access required, the height, and the practical nature of the execution makes it a one-time event in cinema history.
A CIA gadget expert who reviewed the suction glove technology used in the film for a media piece gave it 4 out of 10 for real-world feasibility, which is actually a higher score than most Mission Impossible gadgets receive. For directions to visit the building yourself, our how to get to Burj Khalifa guide covers every transport option.
Can Visitors Stand Where Tom Cruise Filmed?
The floors used for filming, around floors 123 to 130, are corporate office space and are not open to the public. You cannot book access to the exact windows Cruise scaled.
The closest publicly accessible floors are the At The Top observation decks on floors 124 and 125, which sit at 452 to 456 metres. Floor 124 is within the same height band as where a significant portion of the filming took place. Standing on the outdoor terrace on floor 124 puts you at essentially the same altitude as many of the shots in the film.
Floor 148 at At The Top SKY sits at 555 metres, which is actually higher than the filming location. The view from floor 148 is broader and more expansive than the filming height, and the outdoor terrace there gives you open air at that altitude.
Most visitors who come specifically because of the film find that floors 124 and 125 give them the strongest connection to what they saw on screen, simply because the height feels closer to the filming environment. For ticket prices and availability for all three public access levels, our Burj Khalifa Tickets page has everything you need.
The Bottom Line
The Burj Khalifa stunt in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol is one of those rare moments in cinema where what you are watching is exactly what it looks like. A real person, on a real building, at a real height, with nothing but a harness and preparation between him and the ground 518 metres below.
It took months of negotiation to get permission, weeks of preparation to set up safely, and multiple shooting days to capture the eight minutes of screen time that resulted. The scene put the Burj Khalifa into the global imagination in a way that no tourism campaign could replicate and changed how millions of people around the world thought about Dubai.
The building that made all of this possible is open to visitors every day. If you want to stand close to where it all happened, floors 124 and 125 at At The Top put you at 452 to 456 metres, within the same height band as most of the filming.
That is as close as any visitor can get to the real thing. For people curious about life inside the building beyond the film connection, our Burj Khalifa residence guide covers what it is actually like to live in the world’s tallest building every day.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Did Tom Cruise really climb the Burj Khalifa?
Yes. Tom Cruise personally climbed the exterior of the Burj Khalifa for Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. No stunt double was used for the exterior climbing sequences. He was attached to the building by a safety harness fixed to anchor points drilled into the structure, but the height of 518 metres above the ground was completely real. The stunt has been confirmed by Cruise, director Brad Bird, and stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz.
2. Which Mission Impossible film features the Burj Khalifa?
The Burj Khalifa stunt appears in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, the fourth film in the franchise. It was released on December 15, 2011, directed by Brad Bird, and earned over USD 694 million worldwide. The Burj Khalifa sequence runs for approximately eight minutes of screen time and is widely considered the standout scene of the film.
3. How high did Tom Cruise climb on the Burj Khalifa?
Cruise climbed to approximately 1,700 feet, which is 518 metres above the ground. This puts him at roughly the same height as floors 123 to 130 of the building. The At The Top observation deck on floors 124 and 125 sits at 452 to 456 metres, which is in the same general height range as the filming location.
4. Was the Burj Khalifa stunt completely real or was CGI used?
The majority of the stunt was filmed on the actual exterior of the Burj Khalifa at 518 metres. One specific shot was filmed on a partial matching set in Vancouver at only 20 feet off the ground because the required camera angle was physically impossible to achieve on the real building. The sandstorm that appears during the sequence was also added digitally. The real climbing, the real height, and the real building make up the bulk of what appears on screen.
5. Which floors were used for filming Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol?
Filming took place on the exterior sections around floors 123 to 130 of the Burj Khalifa at a height of approximately 518 metres. The production team removed 17 glass panels to install rigging and camera equipment and restored all panels to their original condition after filming.
6. How did the production team get permission to film on the Burj Khalifa?
Stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz led months of negotiation with Emaar Properties and the building’s management team. The production had to agree not to make permanent modifications, restore all panels and surfaces after filming, submit detailed engineering drawings of every rigging attachment point, and conduct full load testing before any person went near the exterior. The production also worked with Dubai Studio City to manage approvals at a government level.
7. Can visitors stand on the same floors Tom Cruise used for filming?
The exact filming floors around 123 to 130 are corporate office space and are not publicly accessible. The closest public access is the At The Top observation deck on floors 124 and 125, which sits at 452 to 456 metres and is in the same height range as where much of the filming took place. Floor 148 at At The Top SKY sits at 555 metres and is higher than the filming location.
