'Top Gun: Maverick': Tom Cruise starrer to be screened at Cannes Film Festival

Top Gun: Maverick, starring Hollywood star Tom Cruise is all set to be screened at Cannes Film Festival in advance of its Memorial Day premiere in theatres, revealed sources close to the festival. According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount and Skydance's high-profile sequel will open in North America on May 27, after beginning its international rollout earlier that week.

The Cannes Film Festival which will be held this year from May 17-28, has long been a platform to launch a big Memorial Day tentpole. It provides Hollywood studios access to press from around the world, not to mention the benefit of high-profile stars walking the famous red carpet for photos.

Tom Cruise starrer Top Gun: Maverick to be screened at Cannes

For the unversed, the film's premiere at the festival will mark the first time in 30 years that a Cruise film would be screened at Cannes. The Ron Howard-directed Far and Away was shown at the movie gala in 1992. However, it would not serve as the world premiere for Top Gun: Maverick, as that has been planned to be held in San Diego, where the first film was set.

According to the leading International media outlet, the Joseph Kosinski directed Top Gun sequel has had to face a long road to the screen because it was delayed multiple times due to COVID-19 pressures on theatrical business. The film's first trailer had been released in 2019 at the San Diego Comic-Con. 

The forthcoming film will be a follow-up to the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun also starring Cruise, which will have its North American premiere on May 27. Apart from the Mission Impossible star, Maverick also stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Monica Barbaro, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer, returning as Iceman. Top Gun: Maverick was scheduled to release 24 June 2020, but was postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. The sequel will also be available to stream on Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical debut. 

The official synopsis of the movie reads, "After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: "Rooster", the son of Maverick's late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka "Goose". 

(Image: @topgunmaverick_/Instagram/AP)