Tom Cruise was last at Cannes in 2022, when the film festival gave him an honorary Palme d’Or and, in return, got one of the last bona fide Hollywood stars to grace their red carpet as he launched “Top Gun: Maverick.

With his deep tan, blinding smile and He-Man haircut, Cruise surely looked the part of a kid’s favorite toy. Certainly, Cannes has proved ever eager to play with him: Even in recent years, when Cruise has moved away from auteur-driven dramas to focus almost exclusively on action films, the festival continues to find new reasons to welcome him back.

Impossible” franchise in electrifying fashion at the Cannes Film Festival, where “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” earned a five-minute ovation thanks in part to Cruise’s commitment to putting breathless and death-defying practical stunts on the big screen.