Tom Cruise does a Top Gun mid-air stunt

Tom Cruise unveiled the world-first screening of Top Gun: Maverick at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday – introducing the long-awaited sequel while balanced atop a flying biplane.

The new Top Gun, which picks up the story of Maverick and his fighter pilot buddies some three decades after the blockbuster original, was scheduled to open in 2020, but was repeatedly delayed by the Covid pandemic.

Cruise, famous for doing many of his own stunts, introduced the screening to the movie theatre industry convention with a video message recorded in typically hair-raising style, perched on the moving plane’s fuselage from the skies above South Africa.

“Hey everyone. Wish I could be there with you. I’m sorry for the extra noise,” yelled 59-year-old Cruise over a roaring plane engine and high winds.

“As you can see, we are filming the latest installment of Mission: Impossible.”

“Tom does everything at full speed all the time... and you can’t stop him. He’s going to do it no matter what,” joked producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Plot details and reviews are embargoed before the premiere at the Cannes next month. – Citizen reporter