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Tom Cruise is engineering an epic stunt to close out the Paris Olympics and pass the flag to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games … TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us … the plan for the upcoming Closing Ceremony involves Tom rappelling down from the top of Stade de France … landing on the stadium field and carrying the official Olympic flag.

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The TV broadcast will then cut to a previously recorded film … and the first 2 minutes shows Tom’s journey on an airplane … flying with the Olympic flag from France to Los Angeles, where he skydives down to the Hollywood sign.

The Hollywood sign stunt was actually filmed on a Saturday morning back in March, and our sources figured someone would spot Tom in the air, connect the dots and the story would leak … but his descent went completely unnoticed.

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Now, there are photos of Tom on the Hollywood sign from back in March, but no one got him in the air … only after he was already on the ground, and no one had a clue this was related to the Olympics.

We’re told the film will then show Tom passing the flag to other Olympians — including a cyclist, skateboarder and volleyball player — as they make their way around the next host city for the Summer Games.

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In paparazzi footage from March, you can see Tom passing the flag to the first Olympian.

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Our sources say logistics for the stunt portion in France are still being worked out … the Closing Ceremony is set for Aug. 11 … this is all very complicated, and Tom might have a stunt double do the actual rappelling to kick this all off.

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Tom, we’re told, is the driving force behind all of this … and he’s actually the one who approached the International Olympic Committee about doing a series of stunts to bridge the Paris and L.A. Games.

Tom’s actually been involved in past Olympic ceremonies … in 2004, he helped carry the torch through Los Angeles as part of a relay across the globe ahead of the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

We reached out to an IOC official, who had no comment.