Tom Cruise on the Croisette for the new “Top Gun”

The Cannes Film Festival did not forget to play the glamorous card on Wednesday May 18. Tom Cruise dons 36 years after the elite pilot suit that made him a star, in Top Gun: Maverick by Joseph Kosinski, with the mission of helping cinemas regain their pre-health crisis level. Patrouille de France, “bright” smile and red carpet… Throwback, in pictures, to Tom Cruise’s day on the Croisette.

Realization : Olivier JUSZCZAK

• The Festival did not forget to play the glamorous card on Wednesday, with the presence of Tom Cruise who created a stir as soon as he arrived by helicopter.

• He hosted a masterclass during which he defended cinemas against streaming platforms. “I make movies for the big screen. My films will not be released directly on the platforms. Going to the cinema is sharing an experience, whatever our culture or our language. I go to see the films in theaters when they come out. I put my cap on (not to be recognized),” the star said.

• Tom Cruise dons 36 years after the elite pilot suit that made him a star, in Top Gun: Maverick by Joseph Kosinski, blockbuster with a nod to The stuff of heroessigned Philip Kaufman (1983).

• It’s with the first chapter Top Gun that the comedian who had just broken through with Risky Business (1983) became a superstar in the fighter pilot outfit of “Maverick”, nickname of the character.

• This less warmongering sequel turns the page on the Top Gun initial, directed by Tony Scott, immense success in 1986 but collection of virilist symbols of America under Ronald Reagan.

• With notably Miles Teller (whiplash) as the son of “Goose”, the former teammate of “Maverick” and character killed in the first episode.

• At 59, the great regular at blockbusters, still does his stunts himself on set.

• To make a sequel three decades later, with a main hero soon to be 60 years old, was all a trap.

• Time does not seem to pass on the face of the American star…

• On the red carpet, we spotted comedian Ellie Fanning.

• Or Hélène and Omar Sy.

• Lady Amelia Spencer and Lady Eliza Spencer, Lady Diana’s nieces, looked lovely.

• And of course, the most famous of French pilots, Thomas Pesquet, looked up at his favorite playground, the sky.

• The planes of the blue-white-red squad of the Patrouille de France provided the show.

• “He inspired a generation of pilots,” tweeted the official French Air Force aerobatic patrol who posed with the Hollywood actor on Tuesday.

• Just before the screening of Top Gun: Maverick the actor received an honorary Palme d’or. The film will be released in French theaters on May 25, and two days later in the United States.