Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise just invited King Charles III to be his “wingman” in a message recorded for the monarch’s post-Coronation concert.
Footage of Cruise’s video message captured by one of the concert’s audience members surfaced on Twitter. It features the Hollywood icon at the controls of his P-51 Mustang fighter plane speaking directly to King Charles III via his headset. “Pilot to pilot, your majesty, you can be my wingman anytime,” Cruise said, before giving a salute and thumbs up. Cruise’s message is a callback to the original Top Gun film, in which Val Kilmer’s Lieutenant Tom “Iceman” Kazansky utters a similar line to Cruise’s Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell during the finale.
The Coronation concert video message suggests that Cruise is still flying high in more ways than one following the tremendous success of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022. Released 36 years after its predecessor, Top Gun: Maverick earned raved reviews from critics and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was also a massive hit commercial, raking in over $1.4 billion at the global box office. Top Gun: Maverick earned Cruise the admiration of his peers too, with legendary director Steven Spielberg even crediting the star with bringing the film industry back from the brink. “You saved Hollywood’s ass and you might have saved theatrical distribution. Seriously,” Spielberg told Cruise at the 95th Academy Luncheon.
Why Tom Cruise Didn’t Attend the Oscars
Despite this steady stream of adulation, Cruise ultimately opted not to attend the 95th Academy Awards ceremony, reportedly to avoid being roasted during host Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue. However, the star didn’t actually have anything to worry about, according to Jimmy Kimmel Live executive producer (and Kimmel’s wife) Molly McNearney. “Jimmy loves Tom. Tom had just been on the show the week before,” McNearney said. “And they talked about seeing each other and Jimmy was excited to tell him that we got real Navy pilots to do the flyover at the top of the Oscars. Jimmy was really disappointed he didn’t come.”
As noted by McNearney, Kimmel interviewed Cruise shortly before the Oscars as part of the promotional campaign for Cruise’s next film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. During the interview, the pair discussed one of Dead Reckoning Part One‘s most dangerous stunts, which sees Cruise perform a parachute jump while riding a motorcycle. “When I let go, you have to make sure that I’m not attached to the bike in any way. Even my shoelaces are taped, and you let go and you start flying, and I have about six seconds to open that parachute before I hit the ground,” Cruise said of performing the potentially deadly maneuver.
Source: Twitter
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