The 62-year-old actor transformed a commercial moment into something intensely personal at a film conference by pausing the exhilaration to consider a personal tragedy.

On April 3, 2025, at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Tom Cruise paid a heartfelt homage to his “Top Gun” co-star Val Kilmer, two days after Kilmer died of pneumonia at the age of 65.

Cruise urged the crowd to pause and remember Kilmer while promoting “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” at Caesars Palace. He described Kilmer as a man who loved movies and offered a great deal to the film business and people around him.

“I’d like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer,” Cruise stated. “I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honored I was when he joined ‘Top Gun’ and came back later for ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’” The homage concluded with his words, “I wish you well on the next journey.”

In response, the crowded auditorium fell silent for a minute, silently paying tribute to Kilmer.

Cruise and Kilmer played competing fighter pilots Maverick and Iceman in the 1986 action film, which was their debut appearance together. The movie became the highest-grossing release of the year with $350 million worldwide.

They appeared on screen together again in the 2022 sequel, which was Kilmer’s last on-screen appearance, almost forty years later.