Tom Cruise has been around the movie world once or twice, and it seems he’s in the midst of yet another renaissance. Just when you start to think his best days might be behind him, there he is starring in a big-budget blockbuster, or landing another major film franchise. Cruise will be 55 in July, but his schedule is packed with films like Top Gun: Maverick, M:I 6 – Mission Impossible, and Universal’s American Made, which debuted its first official trailer Monday.
Checking in at two-and-a-half minutes, the spot (embedded above) teases a film about an “all-American” pilot who ends up in league with the CIA, the DEA, and even Pablo Escobar in the 1980s. Needless to say, he quickly gets in over his head, but the trailer keeps things pretty lighthearted, and mixes in plenty of laughs alongside the nearly constant, death-defying drama. Here’s a snippet of the official synopsis:
“Tom Cruise reunites with his Edge of Tomorrow director, Doug Liman … in this international escapade based on the outrageous (and real) exploits of a hustler and pilot unexpectedly recruited by the CIA to run one of the biggest covert operations in U.S. history.”
The pilot in question is one Barry Seal, a TWA airman-turned-drug-smuggler who was apparently the stuff of legend, for better or for worse.
This first trailer is a pretty wild ride and — right out of the gate — we get a midair collision between comedy and action. The clip begins with a DEA aircraft pulling up alongside Seal and ordering him to land his plane. To be fair, he does comply, but does so a bit hastily, setting it down on a residential street and losing a wing and a few kilos of cocaine in the process. Covered in the white stuff, Cruise bikes away on a borrowed ride, but not before handing a few rubber-banded rolls of bills to a young onlooker to cover the damages.
It’s not only time Mr. Seal gets one over on the authorities in the course of the spot … but he seems to cause plenty of trouble for the bad guys as well. From what we can tell, Cruise seems like a natural in the role, and he retains an effortless, aw-shucks charm while pulling off a whole host of wildly irresponsible stunts.
The film itself pairs the actor with director Doug Liman, who is best known for helming The Bourne Identity (2002). Liman also collaborated with Cruise on Edge of Tomorrow (2014), which was a hit with critics and audiences alike.
American Made is slated for a September 29, 2017, release but — if you simply can’t wait until then to see TC in action — you can catch The Mummy in theaters June 9.
