On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire, illegally rigged between the world's tallest buildings at the time - New York City's Twin Towers. Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup.

Though aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challenges: he had to find a way to bypass the World Trade Centre's security, smuggle the heavy steel cable and rigging equipment into the towers, then pass the wire between the two rooftops and anchor the wire at each end.