Top Gun: Maverick Premieres At Cannes Film Festival, Tom Cruise: I'm Making For The Big Screen

Tom Cruise (Photo: REUTERS via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The film Top Gun: Maverick finally premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, May 18 local time. This screening confirms actor Tom Cruise's commitment that the film he stars in will not be released for the first time on streaming platforms even though it has been delayed several times due to the pandemic.

"I make films for the big screen... I love this experience and I want other filmmakers to have that experience," Cruise said while visiting the Cannes Film Festival.

Top Gun: Maverick was originally set to premiere at Cannes in 2020 before the festival was canceled at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film finally premiered this year for the European market at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.

When asked if he had ever considered debuting Top Gun: Maverick on a streaming platform – as in several major film productions in 2020 and 2021 – Cruise was emphatic: “That will never happen”.

"Look at us all together, we are all united, we all speak a different language, a different culture... but we can come together with a shared experience," Cruise said of cinema attendance.

The actor revealed how much he loves cinema. He admits that he always goes to the cinema, enjoys being able to sit together in the audience, and has spent a lot of time with the cinema owner.

Cruise has been considered an actor who dedicated himself to cinema. Even in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, he helped promote Christopher Nolan's film "Tenet" by seeing it in theaters in an effort to increase sales.

Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux also praised the actor who became a Hollywood icon, highlighting how passionate, successful and loyal Cruise is to the industry. Fremaux considers that Cruise is considered to have one of the highest success rates in the history of cinema.

"He's someone we've never seen on a streaming platform, a TV series or a commercial for. He is someone who is devoted to cinema. To see Tom Cruise, you have to see a movie in theaters," said Fremaux.

With Top Gun 2 premiering in theaters next week and the two Mission: Impossible sequels set for release in 2023 and 2024, Tom Cruise hopes he can play a key role in helping cinemas recover from the ongoing slump triggered by the pandemic.

"I went to the movies and there were people there serving popcorn and running this theater. I told them: 'I know what you're going through, know that we're making 'Mission: Impossible' and 'Top Gun' is coming out soon. ...," he said.