Tom Cruise doesn't do anything by halves - especially when it comes to making his movies.
After jumping out of a plane in 'Mission Impossible: Fallout' the star went to another extreme for 'Top Gun: Maverick'.
The upcoming blockbuster shot over 800 hours worth of footage - more than the entire 'Lord Of The Rings' trilogy combined, according to director Joseph Kosinski.
The 'Tron Legacy' and 'Oblivion director told Empire Magazine “Out of a 12- or 14-hour day, you might get 30 seconds of good footage."
"It was so hard-earned. It just took a very long time to get it all. Months and months of aerial shooting. We shot as much footage as the three 'Lord Of The Rings' movies combined. I think it was 800 hours of footage.”
Star and producer Tom Cruise was also hands-on in the filmmaking process.
"We had to teach the actors about lighting, about cinematography, and about editing," the star said.
"I had to teach them how to turn the cameras on and off, and about camera angles and lenses. We didn’t have unlimited time in these jets. If they were going up for 20-30 minutes, I had to make sure that we got what we needed.”
'Whiplash' star Miles Teller told of the film school by way of Cruise.
Teller, playing the son of fallen hero Goose from the original 'Top Gun', said "You had to, a lot of the time, create an imaginary eyeline to where another jet would be, and when you say a line, your face better be telling the story."
"The sun needs to be at the right angle," he added.
'Top Gun: Maverick' is one of the last major films to be released that had its release date pushed back because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the film originally slated for release in June 2020.
The flick will take flight in Irish cinemas on May 25th.
