Steven Spielberg tells Tom Cruise ‘you saved Hollywood’s ass’ and Top Gun: Maverick ‘saved the entire theater industry’ in heartwarming clip from Oscars luncheon
Steven Spielberg credited Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick with “saving Hollywood’s ass” in a viral clip of the two movie greats at the Academy Awards nominees luncheon on Monday.
Spielberg, 76, who is nominated for The Fabelmans, and Cruise, 60, were seen hugging on the red carpet, before the legendary director became lyrical about the six-time nominated action flick.
Indiana Jones director Spielberg latched on to Cruise, saying, “You saved Hollywood’s ass.” and, it is possible that he kept the theatrical distribution.
‘Oh really. Maverick could have saved the entire theater industry.
A modest Cruise can be seen smiling and shaking his head in disbelief as he receives compliments from the movie icon.
What a compliment! Steven Spielberg credited Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick with “saving Hollywood’s ass” in a viral clip of the two movie greats at the Academy Awards nominees luncheon on Monday.
Iconic: Top Gun: Maverick was one of the highest-grossing movies of recent years, coming out 36 years after audiences first saw Cruise play Navy aviator Pete Mitchell.
The two 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, to be presented by Jimmy Kimmel on March 12. .
While Tom missed out on a Best Actor nomination, the Best Picture nomination could bring him his first Academy Award.
Top Gun: Maverick was one of the highest-grossing movies of recent years, coming out 36 years after audiences first saw Cruise play Navy aviator Pete Mitchell.
Now, decades after the events of the original, Pete is tasked with preparing Top Gun graduates for a high-stakes mission. The team includes Lt. Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Pete’s late best friend Goose.
The film grossed $1.489 million at the box office last summer and was nominated for numerous Critics Choice Awards, picking up the award for Best Cinematography.
The action-packed film is also Cruise’s most successful era of all time.
The film was originally supposed to be released in June 2020, though Paramount decided to push the release until more fans could return, a move that clearly paid off.
Thank you: Indiana Jones director Spielberg latched on to Cruise, saying, “You saved Hollywood’s ass.” and, you could have saved the theatrical distribution’
Compliment: A modest Cruise can be seen smiling and shaking his head in disbelief as he receives compliments from the movie icon
“I am pleased that we have made this decision to hold on. This movie is going to have a great run. It’s going to draw people into theaters who haven’t been in a long time,” Paramount’s head of national distribution Chris Aronson predicted in a statement.
Spielberg is currently nominated for three Academy Awards in connection with his latest release, The Fabelmans, including Best Director, 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.