Tom Cruise invited The Ohio State University's marching band to a special screening of Top Gun: Maverick after the band paid tribute to the original movie. Cruise is returning to one of his most iconic roles in 2022 - hot-shot pilot, Maverick. The original Top Gun came out 35 years ago in 1986 and was a huge success, grossing $357 million, but it's been a long road to get Top Gun 2 off the ground.
In 2010, Paramount started development for the project and finally began filming in 2018 after 8 years in development. Like many movies over the past couple of years, Top Gun: Maverick was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and faced several delays. The movie was originally set to release on June 24, 2020, but was pushed to December 23 and once again to July 2, 2021. The pandemic was a driving force in the excessive delays which led Paramount to once again delay the movie to November 19, 2021. After looking at the other box office competition such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and House of Gucci, Paramount postponed the sequel a fifth time and it is now set to release on May 27, 2022.
Now, Cruise has invited The Ohio State University's marching band to a screening for the sequel after they paid a lovely tribute to the original movie. Cruise was so moved by the performance he wrote to the band thanking them and inviting them to a special screening of Top Gun: Maverick in Columbus, Ohio this spring, as revealed in a video from Ohio State News. He also wished them luck in the Rose Bowl where OSU will be facing off against Utah's Utes. In addition to the invitation, Cruise sent over Top Gun: Maverick shirts for each member, who expressed excitement over the gift.
Click Here to Watch the Video on Youtube
Back on November 13, the OSU marching band put on a half-time show at the Purdue football game to celebrate the sequel, which was set to release on November 19. The band performed hits such as "Top Gun Anthem," "Mighty Wings," "Playing With The Boys," "Read Me On," and "Take My Breath Away" all while creating fun formations including a fighter jet, a volleyball game, Cruise's iconic aviator sunglasses. They even spelled out "Top Gun" and "Maverick." The band ended on a fitting formation - the Top Gun emblem complete with a blue star in the middle and red and white ribbons off to the sides.
It's easy for mainstream celebrities to miss incredible tributes to themselves or their movies due to the sheer volume of them, but it's always rewarding when one does get noticed. While Cruise can be a controversial celebrity, it's nice to see he took the time to thank the OSU marching band for their performance and even took it a step further by inviting them to a special screening. Hopefully, the Memorial Day Weekend release sticks so the band doesn't need to wait any longer to check out Top Gun: Maverick.
Source: Ohio State News
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