Tom Cruise: I Wouldn't Let Top Gun Maverick Debut On Streaming

As Top Gun: Maverick is slowly, finally, winding its way into theaters on May 27, Tom Cruise told an audience at Cannes that the long-awaited sequel that a streaming debut for the film was never on the table. Variety was the first to report.

"That's not going to happen," said Cruise. "Ever."

According to Variety, that statement from Cruise was met with "loud applause." Cruise then added, "I've spent a lot of time with theater owners. The people that serve the popcorn, the ones who make this [happen]... Please, I know what you’re going through. Just know we are making Mission: Impossible, and Top Gun is coming out."

In other words--and time will tell here--Cruise is strongly betting that his two major franchises will help offset the impact the continuing pandemic has had on theaters worldwide. Said Cruise, "I make movies for the big screen."

Last month at CinemaCon, Paramount Pictures unveiled Mission: Impossible 7's title and a trailer for the in-person audience. The next entry in that franchise is titled Mission: Impossible--Dead Reckoning Part One, which also likely gives away the name for Mission: Impossible 8. Dead Reckoning Part One is scheduled to be in theaters on July 14, 2023 after several delays due to the pandemic. Its sequel--the eighth entry in the franchise overall--is expected to be released on June 28, 2024. They were originally scheduled to film concurrently, but COVID also has long since complicated those plans. Earlier this year, an unnamed insider told Variety that these next two entries in the franchise will be a "culmination" for Cruise's Ethan Hunt character.

Check out our review round-up for Top Gun: Maverick to see what critics are saying so far.