Did a Paramount Exec Just Tease a Tom Cruise Cannes Spectacle at the ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Premiere?

By now, it’s gone from folklore to fact — Tom Cruise is an adrenaline junky. The action movie star has always loved pushing his physical limits, even doing stunts as a child. Now, film crews tell him to stop smiling when he does his stunts. For Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise asked his castmates to join him in doing their own stunts, and they underwent flight training to prepare. With Maverick set for a Memorial Day weekend release, a Paramount exec might have just teased something special when Cruise arrives at the Cannes Film Festival showing of the movie.

Cruise arrived at the ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ premiere in a helicopter

Cruise’s quest for thrills is nothing new.

He surprised some hikers during a Mission: Impossible shoot, literally. He parachuted from the sky and shocked two hikers in England’s lake district, who grabbed a quick photo before Cruise left the scene. Cruise also piloted a helicopter into someone’s yard when the nearest airport was closed. 

Cruise dialed it back when Maverick had its U.S. premiere in San Diego in May 2022. He arrived via helicopter on a decommissioned aircraft carrier, but he was merely a passenger, not the pilot.

According to one Paramount executive, Cruise’s Cannes Film Festival entrance could make waves worldwide.

We could see some Tom Cruise ‘tricks’ at Cannes, according to a Paramount executive 

Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s head of global marketing, has shepherded several blockbusters to the big screen in 2022. 

The Scream reboot raked in more than $140 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. The Lost City cleared $160 million worldwide within two months. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opened to the tune of $72 million in the U.S., and it neared $350 million worldwide a month after its widespread release. 

Those are impressive showings, but Maverick is the summer tentpole movie that could make or break the entire year for Paramount. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he teased a possible spectacle when Cruise arrives at Cannes.

“Cannes is great because of the global audience that it serves. And we have special tricks up our sleeve, which I think will travel around the world. The premiere in London that follows Cannes will also be fantastic. Everything we’re doing is in service of the movie because the movie is our best marketing tool.”

Marc Weinstock

Weinstock didn’t give anything away, but he would have to have planned an epic Cruise entrance at Cannes to really grab the world’s attention. We already saw Cruise arrive via helicopter in San Diego, and what could be bigger than that? Cruise parachuting onto the Pointe Croisette in his pilot’s jumpsuit? Ziplining down from a rooftop onto the red carpet? If Cruise’s Cannes entrance is intended to wow onlookers, it will have to top what he’s already done. 

Cannes opens May 17 and Maverick, though not in competition, screens for audiences May 18.

Does Cruise ever use a stunt double?

Yes, Tom Cruise has done some truly insane stunts all on his own. 

Yes, he puts his life on the line when many other actors would call in the body double. 

No, he does not do all of his own stunts. 

Cruise’s stunt double, Casey O’Neill, takes over for the actor when something becomes a bit too risky for the veteran star. It happens less frequently than with some other actors, but O’Neill saw work on films such as Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, according to O’Neill’s website. 

If Cruise’s Cannes entrance is truly a “special trick,” as Weinstock said, then O’Neill and fans everywhere could be in for something special.