At the global premiere of ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ Tom Cruise showed once again why he’s the biggest star in the world.

Arriving via a helicopter that he piloted, he stayed for more than four hours on the red carpet, talking to every reporter from 52 news outlets all over the world. The event was held at USS Midway in San Diego, California where the film is set.

It has been 36 years since its prequel ‘Top Gun’ became a blockbuster hit. Cruise reflected on how intertwined his own story is with Maverick, the brash and stellar pilot at the start of the original film whose encounter with tragedy still haunts the character three decades later. The 59-year old actor said he and Maverick have the same drive in pursuing their pᴀssions and the same need for speed.

“I’m lucky. I have wanted to make movies, fly airplanes since I was four years old. So it’s a privilege. That’s who I am. And this is what I do. I’m lucky that I’ve been given the opportunity to be able to do it. I think that’s where we’re aligned. It’s something that’s like: This is who I am,” Cruise said.

Glen Powell, one of the new Top Gun pilots, shared how they worked hard to make the film’s aerial sequences as exciting as they could be for the moviegoers. The actors had flight training and were closely supervised by Cruise himself to fly and direct themselves with the cameras positioned in their aircrafts.

“We threw a lot into this movie. There was a time in which I wasn’t sure I was gonna do this movie and I’m really, really happy I decided to do it because this movie changed my life,” Powell noted.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was originally slated for a big release back in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. Many critics, however, have already deemed the film worth the wait and it’s on track to meet box-office expectations when it opens globally. It comes out in the Philippines on May 25 and in the US on May 27.