'Top Gun: Maverick' has had an eventful journey to the big screen, but star Tom Cruise was adamant that the movie debut on the big screen.
Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film got a standing ovation, Cruise told the audience that the sequel to the beloved 1986 film debuting on streaming services wasn't an option.
"That’s not going to happen. Ever," the superstar said.
"I make movies for the big screen - I love this experience and I want other filmmakers to have that experience,"
He told the audience "I’ve spent a lot of time with theater owners. The people that serve the popcorn, the ones who make this happen."
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Oscar nominee called cinema owners and said "I know what you’re going through. Just know we are making ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Top Gun’ is coming out.”
Cruise made it clear that he didn't want 'Top Gun: Maverick' to debut on streaming services under any circumstances.
"Look at us all together, we're all united, we all speak different languages, different cultures, but we're able to come together around a shared experience," he said of his love for going to the cinema.
Cruise revealed that he has a habit of going to his local cinema "with my cap on" and sits in the audience, undetected.
Cruise joins the likes of Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve as film industry titans who do not want their films to debut on streaming services.
Denis Villeneuve was upset about his Oscar-winning blockbuster 'Dune' debuting on HBO Max in the United States at the same time as its cinema release, which lead to Villeneuve saying "There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here."
'Tenet' was the first big film to be released after the first Covid-19 lockdown and Cruise was vocal in his support of the film.
Nolan is another major proponent of his films being released in cinemas, with the director ending his long-standing relationship with Warner Brothers as a result of the botched rollout of Tenet in cinemas in 2020.
'No Time To Die' was reportedly the target of a 600 million dollar bid from Apple to debut on their streaming service in December 2020, but star Daniel Craig was reported to have strongly objected to the film debuting on streaming.
Cruise's insistence of 'Top Gun: Maverick' debuting in cinemas seems to have paid off - the film is getting rave reviews, and the film received a 5-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
In our review, we noted that the film "exceeds with flying colours," and the film has been hailed as the best summer blockbuster since Cruise's own 'Mission Impossible: Fallout' in 2018.
