Tom Cruise, who arrived by helicopter at the Cannes Film Festival for the screening of Top Gun: Maverick, was awarded an honorary Palme d’or which was not planned.

The Patrouille de France over the Croisette

On the occasion of the preview screening of Top Gun on the first day of the Cannes Film Festival, this Wednesday, May 18, the 60-year-old actor saw things big. As he walks the mythical red carpet, eight fighter planes from the Patrouille de France fly over the Palais des Festivals. “He inspired a generation of pilots,” tweeted the official French Air Force aerobatic patrol, which posed with the Hollywood star. Pierre Lescure, the president of the Cannes Film Festival, surprised him on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, before the screening of his new film Top Gun Maverick. A great honor for the Hollywood star, back on the Croisette after thirty years of absence.

A surprise Palme d’Or

An honorary Palme d’or has already been awarded during the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, during the opening ceremony, to the American actor Forest Whitaker. This honorary title, given irregularly, crowns an entire career. Last year, Italian director Marco Bellocchio and American actress and director Jodie Foster received it.

The movie Top Gun : Maverick

On May 25, Tom Cruise will star in Top Gun: Maverick, more than 30 years after the first part. In this new plot, Lieutenant Pete Mitchel alias Tom Cruise must return to service and complete one of the most perilous missions of his career: to destroy a clandestine uranium enrichment plant in an enemy country. This second opus of Top Gun promises thrills to spectators in dark rooms with its share of loopings and aerial choreography. Tom Cruise will therefore have done well to make the trip to Cannes, a Palme d’Or and a show from the Patrouille de France, it was worth it !