1992 was a notable year for Tom Cruise, and not just because he acted alongside Jack Nicholson in the Academy Award-nominated A Few Good Men. That was also the year Cruise starred opposite his then-wife Nicole Kidman in Far and Away, which was screened at the 45th Cannes Film Festival. It was at that same event where the actor presented the Palme d’Or to Best Intentions, and 30 years later, Cruise is heading back there, with his new movie Top Gun: Maverick being involved in the proceedings.
It’s been confirmed that Top Gun: Maverick will debut at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on May 18. But that’s not the only way Tom Cruise will shine there, as Deadline shared that a special tribute will be presented to the actor’s film career. That will be accompanied by in interview with journalist Didier Allouch, and after that Maverick will screen to those in attendance.
Tom Cruise certainly wasn’t lacking for attention back in 1992, as along with the aforementioned movies, he was also well known from Risky Business, The Color of Money, Days of Thunder (where he first worked with Nicole Kidman) and, of course, the original Top Gun, which came out in 1986. Nowadays, Cruise is still one of Hollywood’s top stars and is chiefly keeping busy playing Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise, with some of his other more recent movies including Edge of Tomorrow, The Mummy and American Made. So it’s understandable why the Cannes Film Festival wants to honor him this year, and it’s an added bonus that this is happening 30 years after handing the Palme d’Or to director Billy August for Best Intentions. That movie also netted Pernilla August the Best Actress award at the event.
As for Top Gun: Maverick, its Cannes screening will occur a little over a week until the public gets to lay eyes on it (unless you were one of the lucky few to see it in December). There was a time when the sequel was supposed to fly into theaters on July 12, 2019, and ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paramount Pictures planned to deliver it on June 24, 2020. However, like so many movies, Maverick was shifted was shifted around on the calendar numerous times before landing on what’s expected to be its cemented release date. It’ll be the final chapter of a saga that’s been going on since 2010, when the Top Gun sequel entered development.
In addition to Tom Cruise reprising Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who’s been dodging rank advancement in favor of staying in the cockpit, Top Gun: Maverick also features the return of Val Kilmer’s Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, who’s now a four-star admiral and the Chief of Naval Operations. The sequel’s lineup of new faces includes Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Monica Barbaro, Charles Parnell, Danny Ramirez and Manny Jacinto (who promised that this movie “won’t disappoint”). Behind the cameras, Tron: Legacy’s Joseph Kosinski directed Maverick, and Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie all worked on the script based off the story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks.
Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters on May 27, and will become available to people with a Paramount+ subscription 45 days later. Keep your eyes on CinemaBlend for more news about this blockbuster and other upcoming movies.
