Tom Cruise in death-defying Dubai stunt

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES: Tom Cruise dangles upside down from the side of the Burj Khalifa

Between Scientology and all that couch jumping, Tom Cruise’s career hasn’t exactly flourished in recent times, but it seems the actor is literally back on top of things.

The 48-year-old action movie star has wowed Dubai’s residents with his stunt work for “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”, currently being shot in the emirate over a three-week period.

Clad all in black, Cruise has been spotted defying death as he dangles from an observation deck on the 124th floor of the 828-metre Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, as part of filming for the latest instalment of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ series.

The new film is thought to feature a chase sequence involving the glass-and-steel tower. 

Given that Cruise does all his own stunts – his ‘Knight and Day’ co-star Cameron Diaz has called him the ‘King of Stunts’ – studio executives are probably reaching for the defibrillators. Indeed, onlookers say that nervous crew members were seen looking on from open windows as Cruise scaled the Burj Khalifa. But residents of the Downtown Dubai area have clearly enjoyed the ringside view of Hollywood films in the making.

"There's always that adrenalin before you do a stunt," the star said this past summer, before he was similarly photographed in a harness while filming in Prague.

"I want to entertain the audience, and part of making these movies is doing my own stunts."

The action on "Mission Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" is expected to top previous Cruise movies such as "Top Gun", "Minority Report", "'The Last Samurai" and "War of the Worlds".

 The film, also being shot in Moscow and Vancouver, is set for release in December 2011.

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