Tom Cruise honored High Gun co-star, Val Kilmer, at CinemaCon 2025, main attendees in a second of silence to pay respect to his good friend and one in all Hollywood’s true main males. Kilmer, who died on Tuesday, April 1, from pneumonia, starred in High Gun as Iceman alongside Cruise, who performed Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, within the 1986 motion film which shortly grew to become the highest-grossing movie of the yr. Earlier than his demise, Kilmer recovered from a 2014 most cancers analysis that required two tracheotomies. His daughter advised The Related Press that he was surrounded by his household and mates in Los Angeles.
Tom Cruise appeared at CinemaCon in Las Vegas to tease new materials from Mission Not possible — The Closing Reckoning. Nevertheless, earlier than that, the actor made it his mission to consider the moments Kilmer graced everybody along with his presence on the large display screen. In keeping with PEOPLE, Cruise stated:
“I would prefer to take a second earlier than we get began immediately to honor a pricey good friend of mine, Val Kilmer,” the actor started, which garnered a spherical of applause from the viewers. “I can not let you know how a lot I admired his work and him as a human being, how grateful and honored I used to be that he joined High Gun and got here again for High Gun: Maverick.”

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Cruise added that Kilmer beloved motion pictures and {that a} second of silence for his good friend would gracefully honor him in a means Kilmer would respect.
“I feel it will be very nice if we may simply have a second all collectively and simply take a second as a result of he beloved motion pictures, and he gave lots to all of us along with his performances along with his movies. If we may all simply take a second and simply take into consideration all of the great occasions we had with him.” Afterward, Cruise concluded with, “Thanks, Val. I want you properly in your subsequent journey. Thanks all for doing that. I do know he appreciates it.”
Val Kilmer Known as Tom Cruise His “Lengthy-Misplaced Pal”
The High Gun duo constructed a connection so robust that Cruise pushed for Kilmer to return for the 2022 sequel, High Gun: Maverick. Producer, Jerry Bruckheimer advised PEOPLE that Tom stated, “We’ve got to have Val, we have now to have him again.” Whereas showing on Jimmy Kimmel Dwell in 2023, Cruise described how emotional it was filming his reunion scene with Kilmer.
Being co-stars is one factor; changing into mates is one other. For Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise, their bond went past the fictional on-screen rivalry of Iceman and Maverick. When the 2 reunited for High Gun: Maverick, Val described it as “like being reunited with a long-lost good friend.” What’s much more heartfelt is studying that the spotlight of Kilmer’s High Gun expertise was working with Cruise. Each actors valued one another’s efficiency and general work, which may very well be felt by way of earlier interviews.
In 2022, when Tom Cruise celebrated his sixtieth birthday, Val took to X (previously Twitter) to provide him a particular shoutout, writing, “Completely happy Birthday Mav @TomCruise from Ice.” He additionally stated that the 2 had house motion pictures to show simply how a lot enjoyable that they had filming the long-lasting action-adventure movie.
Supply: PEOPLE

High Gun
- Launch Date
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Might 16, 1986
- Runtime
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110 minutes