JET SETTER
Top Gun: Maverick fans are saying the same thing about Tom Cruise as film breaks box office records
TOP Gun: Maverick is flying at the box office, breaking records by exceeding £450million in global sales in just two weeks.
And some eagle-eyed fans have noticed something different about its dashing leading man, Tom Cruise.
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The American actor, 59, appears to have changed a career-long habit.
Normally visual tricks are employed to make the diminutive action hero appear the same height as his taller co-stars.
But in the sequel to the 1986 hit about US Navy fighter jet pilots, there is no attempt to hide the actor's 5ft 7in stature.
In fact, he visibly looks up to 6ft 1in Miles Teller - who plays Lieutenant Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late best friend Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw - in more than one scene.
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When the pair engage in deep conversations or arguments, it is obvious that Teller is half a foot taller than Cruise’s instructor Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell.
In the original movie, Goose was played by Anthony Edwards, who stands at 6ft 2in tall.
Yet in that movie you wouldn’t have known the height discrepancy because of careful angles used by director Tony Scott.
And in the main publicity shot for the 80s hit, 5ft 10in Kelly McGillis leans on Cruise’s shoulder so that the tops of their heads are comparable.
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Fans have duly noted - and praised - the very different approach taken in the sequel.
Twitter user @Pavankumaru42 wrote: “I like how Tom Cruise said f*** it and decided not to do any forced perspective to match anyone's height in Top Gun Mav.”
While user commented: “Top Gun: Maverick is my black panther (Tom Cruise is visibly 5’7. they let him be short).”
And Jaxon McDade wrote: "Best part about the new top gun was that they fully committed to embracing Tom Cruise for the short king he is."
"Thank you to Top Gun Maverick for not even attempting to make Tom Cruise look taller," added @hangmanwingman.
Great heights
Traditionally, Hollywood likes its leading men to be tall and strong.
In order to make Cruise fit that criteria, directors have often gone to great lengths to raise him to the level of others on screen.
Cruise kept this up at red carpet events by wearing stacked heels or inserts.
Ex-wives Nicole Kidman, a towering 5ft 11in, and Katie Holmes, 5ft 9in, also reined in their high heels to reduce the differential.
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Cruise doesn’t talk about his height. But British author Lee Child says that the star privately recognised that he probably didn’t have the physical presence to play 6ft 5in hero Jack Reacher - even though Cruise was cast in the 2012 action movie.
Child said: “He knew that physically he was wrong for it.”
While that movie disappointed, Top Gun Maverick has exceeded expectations.
Critically acclaimed, its impressive global box office ticket sales means it has already surpassed the total earned by the original.
But that success has been somewhat marred by a fresh lawsuit.
The original film was based on a magazine article by Israeli writer Ehud Yonay about Top Guns.
The family of Yonay, who died in 2012, claim that Paramount, the Hollywood studio behind both films, did not obtain the rights to the piece again when making the sequel.
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Yonay’s family are suing Paramount under copyright laws.
But Paramount said: "These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously."
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