Tom Cruise Arrived at the Top Gun: Maverick Premiere Piloting a Helicopter

The world premiere of Top Gun: Maverick took place on Wednesday and star Tom Cruise made quite the entrance. Cruise, who is reprising his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell from the iconic 1986 Top Gun, arrived at the event by landing a helicopter on the deck of the USS Midway aircraft carrier in San Diego — and he reportedly flew the helicopter himself. The Hollywood Reporter shared video of Cruise's arrival and you can check it out here.

In Top Gun: Maverick, "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.' Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it."

Top Gun: Maverick has been a long time coming. The movie was filmed over two years ago and had originally been set for a June 24, 2020, release. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, delaying the film several times. Now, the film will finally hit theaters on May 27th.

"I was so fun. I mean, man, we shot that three years ago," co-star Manny Jacinto said previously. "Before that, 30 years was the first one. 33 years people have been waiting ... I can't wait. I mean, Tom does not disappoint. It was incredibly fun to shoot it. If I can remember it [laughs]. It was the best experience... He just gives off this vibe, this energy of work ethic. It inspires you. You get on set and you make sure you give 110%. You can't help but do that." 

Top Gun: Maverick opens in theaters May 27th.

Photo: Emma McIntyre/WireImage