Tom Cruise recently made an grand entrance at the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick and it was nothing short of extraordinary, as the 59-year-old actor arrived in a helicopter that he piloted himself, landing it on the USS Midway in San Diego. 

This doesn’t come as a surprise to those who are familiar with the actor’s work. In 2011’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the actor chose to perform his own stunts, and that included climbing the tallest building in the world — the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Similarly, the subsequent sequel saw Tom Cruise hanging on onto a plane during taking off. 

Cruise has been a licensed helicopter pilot for many years now, opting to flying it on his own for Mission Impossible: Fallout. 

According to Jerry Bruckheimer, the executive producer of the upcoming Top Gun sequel, Cruise’s stunts aren’t just limited to the movie’s marketing campaign. While speaking to Hollywood Reporter, Bruckheimer confirmed that Cruise actually flew the jets seen in the movie. 

“Every time you see him flying, that’s him in that jet,” he said, adding “You can’t pull Tom Cruise back. He’s going to do what he’s going do.”

The highly-anticipated Top Gun sequel has been due for a release for a long long time, with an initial date set in 2019. However, due to the complicated production and the recent Covid-19 pandemic, the movie faced a number of delays. 

With the franchise having a strong fan following, this installment has been generating a lot of buzz on the internet, with some early reviews describing it as even better than the original. Now, those are some high claims to make but if there’s anyone who can pull it off, it’s probably Tom Cruise. 

( Feature Image credits: Getty Images )