Pan’s Labyrinth got a 22-minute standing ovation, The French Dispatch earned 9 full minutes, but Top Gun: Maverick‘s 6-minute standing O at Cannes is nothing to chomp your teeth at. The Tom Cruise-starring legacyquel has scored tons of excellent reviews (including from our own Mike Ryan), but unless Maverick says, “I feel the need, the need for poetic dialogue and internal torment set to a xylophone-only score,” it isn’t exactly the type of movie Cannes usually vibes with. Granted, they’ve dipped their toes into the populist water a few times (shout out to Shrek), but the hullabaloo surrounding Top Gun: Maverick goes above and beyond. That’s because the standing ovation happened before the movie even played.
The mania of the event started with an 8-fighter-jet flyover at the red carpet, continued with a video tribute covering Cruise’s entire career, and ended with a surprise Palme d’Or bestowed upon the actor, who started to cry as the audience climbed to its feet again for another round of applause before watching the film. Cruise also took the opportunity to drop the mic on the question of why he does his own life-threatening stunts, stating, “No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance? Why do you do your own dancing?’” instead of the more honest answer that he’s trying to die while at work to double the insurance money.
Top Gun: Maverick, which also stars Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, hits theaters May 24th.