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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zara Woodcock

Tom Cruise casually arrives at the world premiere of Top Gun in a Maverick helicopter

Tom Cruise stayed on-brand as he casually arrived at the Top Gun: Maverick world premiere in a helicopter.

The 59-year-old has reprised his role as Maverick over 35 years after the original film hit cinemas in 1986.

And in true Tom fashion, the action film star flew to the event in San Diego, California, in an N547SA Airbus helicopter on Wednesday.

He looked suave and cool as a cucumber as he stepped out of the chopper wearing American Optical's pilot sunglasses and a classic navy three-piece suit.

The star buttoned up his blazer as he walked toward the cameras and smiled.

Of course, the helicopter was emblazoned with the title of the film to make Tom's arrival extra on brand.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? (Getty Images Paramount Pictures)

He confirmed to ET Online that he didn't fly the helicopter. "No, not today. I do fly that helicopter, but not today," Tom said.

Top Gun: Maverick was actually filmed over two years ago, but the release was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was meant to be released in June 2020 before it was pushed back to December 2020. Another setback meant it was moved to July 2021 and then November 2021.

And now, after many setbacks, Top Gun will be premiering on May 27.

The star flew to the premiere (SplashNews.com)

Tom has shown off his aviation skills before and took co-star Jennifer Connelly on a ride in his vintage plane.

Jennifer, 51, said: "That was pretty extraordinary. He is actually a licensed aerobatic pilot, which I didn’t know about before. I don’t think I’d even thought about the fact there are aerobatics pilots."

Jennifer was just 15 when the first Top Gun movie came out 36 years ago, starring Tom as daredevil Navy pilot Maverick.

Tom waved at the cameras as he got out the chopper (SplashNews.com)

In the sequel, she plays Penny – a single mum who runs the bar where flight school graduates drink.

Explaining that Penny and Maverick “have a history together”, she told the magazine Total Film: “They’ve sort of come in and out of each other’s lives over the years.

"It’s not by accident they keep finding themselves next to each other.”

The sequel was filmed a few years ago (Getty Images)
The pandemic caused the premiere to be pushed back (Getty Images for Paramount Pictu)

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Back in 2019, Tom said that 'everything you see in the film is real' as he showed a trailer at San Diego Comic Con.

"We're working with the Navy, all of the flying you see in this picture is real, I really wanted to give you all an experience of what it is to be inside that aircraft," he said at the time.

"To me, Top Gun is about competition, it's about family, it's about sacrifice, it's about heroism, it's about aviation.

"It's a love letter to aviation.”

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