Tom Cruise Surprises Moviegoers at London 'Tenet' Preview

[HARDY]

 

The actor showed up in support of seeing Christopher Nolan's tentpole on the big screen.

Tom Cruise may not be in Tenet, but he threw his support behind Christopher Nolan's espionage epic by attending a preview screening of the movie in London on Monday.

The actor tweeted about his experience with an accompanying video showing him wearing a black face covering as he arrived at the Odeon BFI Imax. "Big Movie. Big Screen. Loved it," Cruise headlined the post.

Tenet, from Warner Bros., is the first Hollywood tentpole to brave a theatrical release since the novel coronavirus shuttered cinemas worldwide in March. The film began previews over the weekend ahead of its official opening Wednesday in a number of overseas markets where theaters have been able to reopen. The film will launch in select U.S. markets over Labor Day weekend despite the fact that indoor movie theaters in Los Angeles and New York aren't yet allowed to flip on the lights.

Like Nolan, Cruise has dedicated his career to making big-screen spectacles.

Cruise is in London to complete filming on Paramount and Skydance's next Mission: Impossible installment, which suspended production this spring due to COVID-19. He'll next be seen in Top Gun: Maverick, whose release was delayed from this summer to Christmas because of the pandemic (the Top Gun sequel is also from Paramount and Skydance.)

Insiders say Warner Bros. accommodated the actor's request to attend a word-of-mouth preview screening of Tenet.

The video tweeted by Cruise also shows the masked actor inside the auditorium, where he and other audience members can be heard applauding as the movie begins. "It is great to be back in a movie theater, everybody," Cruise says. As he later exits, one patron asks him what he thought. "I loved it. I loved it," he says.

Earlier, on his way to the BFI, Cruise is riding inside an SUV when people on the sidewalk recognize him despite his face mask. "How does that happen?"