Tom Cruise swoops into Cannes, igniting film festival

Tom Cruise rolled into the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, greeted with whoops and hollers from a crowd gathered to get a glimpse of the American star, who is attending the event in southern France for the first time in three decades.

“Tom! Tom!” shouted fans who stood outside the palm-lined festival venue as the actor stepped out of a car, wearing a trim blue suit and sunglasses.

Some had been camping out since breakfast, with stools and stepladders.

“I was like, ‘I must see him, absolutely, one way or another!'” said Oriane Holz, 22. She held up a sign asking for tickets to the screening of the Top Gun sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” that will be shown at the festival.

Katy McNulty, 46 and Joanne Routledge, 52, had been on the road since before dawn. The pair were up at 3 am and travelled from the north of England to Scotland, taking a plane from Edinburgh to Nice, and then a train to Cannes to arrive in time for Cruise’s appearance.

What were they angling for?

“A selfie with Tom because we promised them at work that’s what we’ll deliver – and they told us we wouldn’t,” said Routledge.

The release of the long-awaited “Top Gun” sequel was held back two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, and has added considerable buzz to the film festival, which runs from May 17-28.

“Me and my father watched ‘Top Gun’ when I was a child. I wish he could be here with me now,” said Stan Hamilton, an American student learning French in Cannes.

“Hopefully we can get a chance to get some tickets, and get in and see the movie, maybe even get a chance to meet him,” added Hamilton.