Full programme announced for Tom Cruise season at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX

Today we announce full details of our forthcoming Tom Cruise season, taking place at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX throughout May, and in celebration of Cruise being recognised with the BFI’s highest honour, a BFI Fellowship. From box office powerhouse and daredevil action star to world renowned auteur, diving into Tom Cruise’s filmography shows the range and power of one of cinema’s greatest stars.

While he is widely recognized for his role as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which returns with the next instalment, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Christopher McQuarrie, 2025), on May 21, Cruise is also celebrated for his dedication to reinventing cinematic spectacle and preserving the theatrical experience. 

A highlight of the season, which will include screenings of 28 films from his career, will be Tom Cruise in Conversation on 11 May, where the Academy Award-nominated actor, producer and all-round hero of cinema will join us at BFI Southbank to reflect on his incredible career, sharing insights into his craft, including thrilling stunts done for real, and his approach to making such awe-inspiring films. 

Following the in conversation event, Cruise will also introduce a screening of one of the Mission: Impossible films at BFI IMAX, the biggest screen in the UK, which Cruise has frequented numerous times. The choice of film will be down to audiences, with a public vote open now and closing on Sunday night (30 March); the winning film will be announced before tickets for the Tom Cruise season go on sale to the public on 10 April.

From his arrival in Hollywood, Cruise proved himself an actor with a remarkable instinct for excellent scripts, working with greats such as Martin Scorsese (The Color of Money, 1986), Steven Spielberg (Minority Report, 2002), Michael Mann (Collateral, 2004) and Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut, 1999), and taking on a wide range of roles, from lovable sports agent in Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire (1996) to his manipulative pick-up artist in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (1999). 

His career is one defined by dedication to his craft, whether that’s spending a year preparing for Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone, 1989), learning Japanese for The Last Samurai (Edward Zwick, 2003), or mastering speed-flying for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Christopher McQuarrie, 2023). Many collaborators, including Glen Powell and Samantha Morton, have praised his exuberance, work ethic and generosity. Throughout all his different cinematic adventures, Tom Cruise has consistently remained a man committed to giving you the best time at the movies.

Curated by BFI lead programmer Kimberley Sheehan

Straight-A student and model son Joel is on the cusp of being accepted into a prestigious college when his parents take a vacation. Home alone, Joel has the chance to cut loose. But as soon as he does, his life spins wildly out of control.

When Lieutenant Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell is accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots, his rash attitude and cocky demeanour causes some friction with his instructors and fellow classmates. Tom Cruise the action star was born in this iconic, adrenaline-fuelled hit.

It’s difficult to imagine any emerging, twenty-something actor holding their own against the great Paul Newman in a Martin Scorsese picture, but Cruise made it look effortless. He oozes charisma as Vincent, a talented pool player who crosses paths with Newman’s seasoned hustler ‘Fast Eddie’, striking up a partnership.

Following the death of his estranged father, car salesman Charlie learns that he has a brother, Raymond, who he goes to meet. Autistic and gifted in ways that Charlies is only beginning to understand, Raymond sets off on a chaotic road trip with his brother – one that will transform them both. Though much attention has been given to Dustin Hoffman’s performance, it’s Cruise’s heartfelt and often unsentimental portrayal of Charlie that not only drives the film but gives it such emotional power. Contains ableist language.

When a U.S Marine dies on duty, two of his colleagues are charged with the murder, triggering a court-martial. But when their defence team starts to investigate the incident, the facts are more complex than they initially appeared. Cruise is on fiery form here, capturing the arrogance and naivety of a talented but inexperienced rookie lawyer. Mastering Aaron Sorkin’s rapid-fire dialogue, especially when exchanging verbal weaponry with Jack Nicholson in one of cinema’s greatest courtroom scenes.

Cruise was nominated for his first Academy Award for his performance as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic. Oliver Stone’s searing biopic, witnessing Kovic’s transformation from boyish optimism, through his time as a marine and the life-changing injury he sustained in combat, to his strident anti-war activism, finds Cruise at his most committed emotionally and physically.

In Neil Jordan’s adaptation of the first book in Anne Rice’s vampire series, Brad Pitt’s Louis rues the day he gave his life to a ruthless, centuries-old vampire. Cruise was thrillingly cast against type when he took on the part of the ferocious Lestat and he proceeded to steal every scene with his combination of buoyant, devil-may-care charm and frequently surprising ferocity. At the same time, he ably conveys Lestat’s complexity – inviting sympathy for a character who can be cruel yet yearns desperately for companionship.

Jerry Maguire, a slick, high-flying sports agent working for giant company has doubts about the ethics of his industry. When he proposes there is a better, kinder way for taking care of clients he is fired. But one co-worker and a sole client believe in him. Cruise was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award for his energetic performance in this funny and heart-warming romantic sports drama.

Bill Harford, a good-looking, successful doctor, is triggered when his wife shares her private sexual fantasies. He plunges into the Manhattan night, embarking on his own sexual odyssey, which soon turns into something darker. One of Cruise’s most compelling roles, this is an unsettling exploration of self, fantasy and the fragility of seemingly secure relationships.

Cruise delivers one of his most acclaimed performances in Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling, multi-layered study of characters in crisis. Frank T.J. Mackey is an unsavoury professional pick-up artist, lecturing men on the art of ‘seducing and destroying’ women. It’s an outrageous role but also one in which Cruise reveals multiple layers; he might swagger as Mackey in the company of men, buy his emotional state is one of barely controlled chaos.  

In Cruise’s second collaboration with Cameron Crowe, he plays David Aames, a wealthy magazine publisher and playboy who begins to question reality following a car crash. This mind-bending, dream-blending psychological thriller is exquisitely crafted and features one of Cruise’s most intimate and soul-bearing performances.

John Anderton heads up ‘Precrime’ a specialised police department which captures killers before they kill by using visions generated by powerful psychic ‘precogs’. One day the precogs predict Anderton himself will be embroiled in a crime. Steven Spielberg’s spin on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 novella is a suspenseful thrill ride that sees Cruise as grittier, more haunted Hitchcockian hero desperate to clear his name.

Japan in the 1870s is a world undergoing rapid, revolutionary change. Former US Cavalry officer Nathan Algren is recruited by ambitious politicians to train the country’s first army in modern combat techniques, in the hope that it can eradicate Japan of its Samurai class. However, Algren finds himself unexpectedly drawn into the that world. Cruise is an elemental force in Zwick’s hugely enjoyable epic, imbuing Algren’s transformation from world-weary cynic to a mission-driven combatant with charismatic zeal.

Cab driver Max thinks he’s in for an easy ride when he picks up Vincent – a suavely dressed man who offers a high fare to be driven to several different locations. However, Vincent is an assassin clocking on for a long night shift. Cruise is superbly menacing as a cold-hearted villain in Michael Mann’s magnificent neo-noir.

Dock worker and divorced dad Ray has custody of his children for the weekend when a tumultuous thunderstorm brings with it more than inclement weather. In Cruise’s second collaboration with Steven Spielberg, a dark and richly rewarding adaptation of H. G. Wells’ novel, he grippingly conveys the confusion of a flawed but determined everyman, attempting to reconnect with his children in the most terrifying conditions.  

In the film that marked the beginning of Cruise’s collaborations with his recent MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (who penned this film’s screenplay with Nathan Alexander), Cruise plays Claus von Stauffenberg, the German Colonel who led the near-successful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Initially restrained, Cruise’s performance grows in intensity as the tension increases. He leads an all-star cast of British thespians, and the result is a richly detailed, well-constructed and often unbearably suspenseful historical thriller

On one unremarkable morning in downtown Pittsburgh, five people are murdered in a seemingly random sniper shooting. The suspect’s only plea is for the defence to ‘Get Jack Reacher’. Bringing Lee Child’s hugely popular fiction figure to the screen, Cruise transforms the former military police officer and subsequent drifter into a cool and magnetic cinematic hero.

In the near future, after aliens have attacked our planet, William Cage, a military PR man with no combat skills, finds himself dumped on the battlefield. Through a twist of fate, he is forced to relive the same day every time he dies until he can find a way to destroy his adversaries. It is huge fun to see Cruise playing a rookie solider out of his depth, especially against Emily Blunt’s relentless elite warrior, with whom he shares a sparkling chemistry.

Cruise is on top form in this gripping action comedy, based on the real-life exploits of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner, gun smuggler and covert CIA agent. A perfect showcase for his charm, comedy and aviation talents, Cruise is at his most playful as a loveable rouge sucked into increasingly dangerous illegal activities, whose ambitions are no match for the ruthlessness of the people he works for.

With over 30 years’ service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Maverick returns to the elite Top Gun school to prepare some of the best flyers for a specialised mission. Cruise plays Maverick as stronger and weathered, but more vulnerable, revealing deeper layers to the character. He also takes us through a series of astonishing aerial sequences – so kinetic and realistic that we could be in the cockpit.

All the Mission: Impossible films will be screening at the BFI IMAX in in the run-up to the release of The Final Reckoning. Audiences can either attend individual screenings or one of our exciting marathon events

Screening at BFI IMAX in the first part of a Mission: Impossible Marathon, are the first three films in the series Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2 and Mission: Impossible III, where Ethan Hunt has to uncover traitors, prevent a biological catastrophe and take down an arms dealer or two.

Screening at BFI IMAX, the second part of a Mission: Impossible Marathon will feature Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation and Fallout, films shot using IMAX technology for extra scale and impact. They feature some of the series’ most iconic stunts – hanging off planes, completing an underwater heist and racing down the Burj Khalifa.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: to track down a terrifying, species-threatening AI weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. The seventh film in the Mission: Impossible series brims with awe-inspiring action, tremendous stunts and dynamic camera work. Cruise has fantastic chemistry with Hayley Atwell’s professional pickpocket, in what might be the most thrilling, fun and surprising mission yet.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Following the knife-edge finale of Dead Reckoning, Ethan and his team face what might be their toughest, most deadly adversary yet. In their fifthMission: Impossible collaboration, Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie up the ante to produce one of the year’s most anticipated blockbusters.