Tom Cruise Shares 'Gruelling' Training He Put His Top Gun: Maverick Co-Stars Through

36 years after the original 1986 film was released, the actor is reprising his role as of US naval aviator Pete Mitchell.

The film was originally set to hit cinemas on July 12, 2019.

Unfortunately, due to a myriad of factors (a mixture of the film's technical feats and the pandemic), it's endured many, many delays.

Well, in behind-the-scenes footage from the movie, the 59-year-old explains how he put the cast through 'challenging' and 'all-encompassing' aviation training. Watch it here:

Cruise said: “I had to really teach them cinematography and the lighting so they understood what’s gonna look good on camera…

"I’m very proud of what we all accomplished. Each one of them are extraordinary.”

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer continued: “​​The aviation sequences had to be real, so our actors went through three months of gruelling training.”

Footage showed the cast flying high-speed planes and taking part in a 'challenging' underwater programme.

Actor Monica Barbaro explained that 'Tom designed this all-encompassing aviation training for all the actors'.

“Everybody thought it would be impossible for the actors to really be in the jets,” said Whiplash star Miles Teller, with Glen Powell adding: “But that’s the gift that Tom gave us, that by the time we got up there, we could handle it.”

"It's a relationship that is important to the Top Gun franchise and as a fan I would want to see how it's evolved."

The official synopsis reads: "After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.

"When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialised mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt Bradley Bradshaw, call sign 'Rooster', the son of Maverick's late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt Nick Bradshaw, aka 'Goose'.

"Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it."

Top Gun: Maverick is released in UK cinemas on 25 May.