Tom Cruise is set to be celebrated at the Cannes Film Festival this May with a career retrospective, an in-person conversation on stage and the premiere of his eagerly awaited “Top Gun” sequel “Maverick: Top Gun.”
The actor will be in attendance at the Palais des Festivals on May 18 for a tribute event that will take in his 40-year film career. He will also take part in a conversation with journalist and Cannes associate Didier Allouch.
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As Variety reported earlier this week, “Top Gun: Maverick” will receive a special screening in Cannes — a huge coup for festival director Thierry Fremaux who has been keen to program the studio tentpole since 2020. Fremaux first aimed to get the movie secured for an out-of-competition slot before COVID-19 delays upended the film release calendar. It will now screen in Cannes just ahead of its May 25 premiere in France, and May 27 release in the U.S.
Cruise’s co-star Jennifer Connolly will also be in Cannes for the premiere and festival, Variety has confirmed.
Cruise’s long-awaited return to the cockpit as hotshot pilot Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell was likewise delayed by the pandemic, which pushed the movie’s planned release date several times. The film is now set to hit theaters on May 27, while the Cannes Film Festival runs from May 17 to 28. There was initially some uncertainty as to whether “Top Gun: Maverick” would play Cannes due to Cruise’s frenetic shooting schedule. The actor has been filming “Mission: Impossible 7,” which has suffered a number of COVID delays as well as an unwieldy budget.
Other movies heading to Cannes include Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” as well as George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, as revealed by Variety.
The full Cannes line-up will be revealed during a press conference on April 14. The festival is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and is planning a full-fledged return to form following a smaller festival in 2021 and a virtual event in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
Deadline was first to report news of Cruise’s career retrospective in Cannes.
Elsa Keslassy contributed to this report.
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