Hollywood: Tom Cruise receives honorary Palme as ‘Top Gun’ jets into Cannes

Tom Cruise received an honorary Palme d’Or and gushed about his passion for cinema as he made his first visit in 30 years to the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday for the launch of Top Gun: Maverick.

The French Air Force display team streaked across the sky over the red carpet as the stars headed into the screening for the long-awaited sequel to Cruise’s superstar-making 1986 blockbuster.

The movie was supposed to premiere at the French Riviera film fest back in 2020 before it was cancelled by the Covid pandemic and the film’s release delayed multiple times.

Cruise was adamant it was worth waiting for cinemas to be back in full swing, and said he never considered releasing Top Gun: Maverick via a streaming platform.

“That was not going to happen, ever,” he told a Cannes audience in a talk ahead of the premiere.

“I make movies for the big screen. Cinema is my love, my passion. I always go to movies when they come out. I’ll put my cap on and sit in the audience with everyone.”

Fans lined balconies and stood on roofs along the Cannes seafront to catch a glimpse of the stars, while others held up signs begging for a last-minute ticket to the screening.

Watch the trailer for Top Gun: Maverick below:

He was last in Cannes in 1992 for the premiere of Far and Away with his then-wife Nicole Kidman, and is the only Hollywood megastar of that era to have maintained his box office power, even as he prepares to turn 60 this year.