HaveUHeard

Steven Spielberg credited Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick for ‘saving Hollywood’s ass’ in a viral clip of the two cinema greats at Monday’s Academy Awards nominees luncheon.

Spielberg, 76, who is nominated for The Fabelmans, and Cruise, 60, were seen embracing on the red carpet, before the legendary director waxed lyrical about the six-time nominated action film.

Indiana Jones director Spielberg clutched onto Cruise and said: ‘You saved Hollywood’s ass, and, you might have saved theatrical distribution. 

‘Seriously. Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry.’

A modest Cruise – whose film will do battle with The Fabelmans for the Best Picture Oscar next month – could be seen smiling and shaking his head in disbelief as he took in the compliments from his fellow movie icon. 

What a compliment! Steven Spielberg credited Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick for ‘saving Hollywood’s ass’ in a viral clip of the two cinema greats at Monday’s Academy Awards nominees luncheon

Iconic: Top Gun: Maverick was one of the highest grossing films of the last few years and was released 36 years after audiences first saw Cruise play Navy aviator Pete Mitchell

The pair have previously worked together on 2002’s Minority Report and 2005’s War of the Worlds.

Top Gun: Maverick is nominated for Best Picture along with Elvis, Avatar: The Way of Water, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Fabelmans at the 95th Academy Awards, which will be hosted on March 12 by Jimmy Kimmel.

While Tom missed out on a nomination for Best Actor, the nomination for Best Picture could bring him his first Academy Award. 

Top Gun: Maverick was one of the highest grossing films of the last few years and was released 36 years after audiences first saw Cruise play Navy aviator Pete Mitchell.

Now, decades after the events of the original, Pete has been tasked with preparing Top Gun graduates for a high-risk mission. The team includes Lt. Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Pete’s late best friend Goose.

The film raked in $1.489bn at the box office last summer and was nominated for numerous Critics Choice Awards, picking up the gong for Best Cinematography.

The action-packed flick is also Cruise’s most successful time of all time.

The film was originally supposed to be released in June 2020, though Paramount decided to hold off on the release until more fans are able to return, a move that clearly paid off. 

Thanks: Indiana Jones director Spielberg clutched onto Cruise and said: ‘You saved Hollywood’s ass. and, you might have saved theatrical distribution’

Compliment: A modest Cruise can be seen smiling and shaking his head in disbelief as he takes in the compliments from the fellow movie icon

Loved it: ‘Seriously. Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry’

‘I’m gratified we made this decision to hang on. This movie is going to have a huge run. 

‘It’s going to draw people to theaters who haven’t been in a long time,’ predicted Paramount’s domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson in a statement.

Spielberg is currently nominated for three Academy Awards in connection with his latest release, The Fabelmans, including Best Director and Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.  

 The Fabelmans is a semi-autobiographical film. It details the dissolution of the marriage of Mitzi (Michelle Williams) and Burt Fabelman (Paul Dano) as seen through the eyes of Spielberg’s surrogate, played by Gabriel LaBelle.