Cruise has long favoured the brand both on and off screen, using the world’s most iconic watchmaker to signal character, status or simply his own personal taste. In Rain Man (1988), his character Charlie Babbitt wore a gold Rolex Day-Date, the kind of watch that says you’ve made it (or at least want others to think you have).

Impossible franchise is over, then it was quite a send-off for a star whose enthusiasm — and dedication to insane stunts — hasn’t dimmed.

Cannes: Cruise joined his director on 11 films, Christopher McQuarrie, for a deep-dive conversation at Cannes. “I’m a diehard believer in the big-screen experience,” said McQuarrie. “What makes film special is however many hundreds of strangers all come together to sit in the room and watch something together and experience something together.