The actor and producer of the new action film sequel to the 1986 "Top Gun" movie said bringing the film to Cannes and the whole experience of the day on Wednesday (May 18) was "beautiful" and one he will "never forgot".
Cruise said he had "worked very hard" with both actors and the studio, Paramount Pictures, to go with his vision of what kind of big-screen film he wanted, including flying real jets with the actors in them.
Actors Glen Powell and Greg Tarzan Davis who play Top Gun pilots 'Hangman' and 'Coyote' called the flying with real fighter pilots "intense".
"We are flying 30 feet off the ground at 600 knots (1,111.2 kilometers per hour). So it gets very dangerous and you are inverted over mountains and cliffs and we are flying with the best of the best but it is still dangerous," said Powell.
"So there was definitely moments were I didn't call my mom and tell her what happened that day," he smiled.
Producer of this film and the original, Jerry Bruckheimer described the pressure on the cast up in the air like "like an elephant sitting on your chest".
"Every actor here has been through a hell of ride making this movie," he said.
Cast members Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis and Danny Ramirez also attended the royal performance, a long with director Joseph Kosinski.
Asked who was the best pilot out of him and Britain's Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, who was accompanied to the special screening with wife, Catherine, Cruise joked: "It's a wonderful evening. I don't want to ruin it for them".
"Top Gun: Maverick" is released on May 25 in the UK and Ireland.
