Tom Cruise is headed for Cannes in May – his first appearance at the international film festival since 1992. Organisers say he's to present the long-delayed world premiere of the Top Gun sequel.
Top Gun: Maverick will play out of competition on 18 May, festival director Thierry Fremaux said at a press conference in Paris.
The film was originally supposed to open back in 2020, but has been repeatedly delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It picks up the story of Maverick and his fighter pilot buddies 30 years after the events of the 1986 blockbuster original.
Val Kilmer is set to reprise his role as Iceman, despite his career being curtailed by throat cancer that has destroyed his voice.
Cruise has not been at Cannes for three decades since Far and Away played on the closing night of the 1992 edition.
Fremaux said the festival would pay "special homage" to Cruise and "the utterly unique and singular trace he is leaving on the history of cinema".
Cruise is no stranger to France, having filmed many sequences for Mission Impossible: Fallout, the sixth part of the spy series, in Paris.
The seventh part of the saga, also delayed due to Covid restrictions, is due to be released in France later this year.
Green machines
Meanwhile, festival organisers have also announced the names of new media and brand partnerships.
BMW is now the official automotive partner, providing a fleet of fully electric and hybrid cars in line with the environmental policy the festival initiated in 2019.
Beverage company Campari will also be on the Croisette for the first time and will set up an exclusive reception venue specially built for the occasion.
In terms of press coverage, France Télévisions and Brut, established in more than 80 countries, are the festival's new media partners providing coverage both in France and internationally.
Workshops
On the artistic front, the names of the young directors chosen to participate in the edition of the Cannes Film Festival Residence programme have also been revealed.
Every year, Cannes welcomes two sessions of six foreign directors who have four and a half months to workshop the writing of their screenplay for their first or second feature film.
This year's participants are Arvin Belarmino from the Philippines, Dina Duma from Macedonia, Andrei Epure from Romania, Flurin Giger from Switzerland, Kukla (Katarina Resek) from Slovenia and Laura Wandel from Belgium.
Since its creation in 2000, it has seen more than 200 filmmakers pass through, including Nadine Labaki, Nadav Lapid, Lukas Dhont, László Nemes and Michel Franco, among others.
The Cannes Film Festival takes place from 17-28 May.
The official competition selection will be announced at a press conference on 14 April.
