Tom Cruise Scares the Sh*t Out of James Corden by Taking Him Along for ‘Top Gun’ Plane Stunts

With Top Gun: Maverick on the horizon, Tomthusiasts probably should have expected a return to the art of gleefully scaring the shit out of Late Late Show host James Corden. With Monday night’s show, we were given exactly that in the form of a 15-minute video featuring a truly Top Gun-esque experience.

“It is 4:56 am. I’m in Burbank Airport and I’m here because Tom Cruise has asked me to meet him here at 5 a.m.,” Corden explains at the top of the video above. “When Tom Cruise calls, you sort of have to say yes.” 

Cruise, who’s known for engaging in a number of public sky activities, is then seen arriving to pick up Corden and take him deep into the desert.

“Last time, we jumped out of an airplane,” Cruise tells Corden. “Today, we’re gonna go flying.” Corden immediately protests, noting they “literally just” did some flying, albeit to no avail.

After a safety rundown including far too many uses of the word “plop,” Cruise does indeed take Corden up in a vintage fighter plane. And later, Corden is met with another sky bound surprise we won’t spoil here in written form. See the full thing up top.

Top Gun: Maverick is out this Friday. Ahead of the well-reviewed sequel’s release, Cruise let loose a new teaser trailer for another impending sequel: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Revisit that below. Dead Reckoning Part One and Part Two will be released roughly a year apart, with the former arriving on July 14 of next year and the latter hitting theaters on June 28, 2024.