Steven Spielberg has thanked Tom Cruise for "saving Hollywood's ass".

The legendary director paid the actor a huge compliment at the 2023 Oscar Nominee Luncheon on Monday (13.02.23) as he believes that the success of Top Gun: Maverick single-handedly rescued cinema following the pandemic.

In a clip from the event shared by director Kartik Gonsalves, whose film Who Can You No to Baby Elephants is up for Best Documentary Short, Spielberg told Cruise: "You saved Hollywood's ass, and you might have saved theatrical distribution.

"Seriously, Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry."

Spielberg and Cruise worked together twice on 2002's Minority Report and 2005's War of the Worlds. 

Top Gun: Maverick was the second movie to gross over US$1 billion (SS$1.33 bil) at the worldwide box-office amid the pandemic, following 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. In total, the movie, which is up for six Oscars, made US$1.48 billion. (It should note that it achieved that milestone without any help from China, where the film was never released.) 

Top Gun: Maverick is vying for six Oscars, including Best Picture, while The Fabelmans received seven nods, including Best Director (Spielberg) and Best Picture. 

Michelle Yeoh with Tom Cruise at the Oscar Nominee Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Feb 13.

Cruise with Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Christopher McQuarrie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Angela Bassett and Elvis' Austin Butler. 

Cruise with The Fabelmans' Michelle Williams, The Whale's Hong Chau, and The Fabelmans director Steven Spielberg.

Cruise, 60, had pushed for the long-awaited sequel Top Gun sequel to be released in the cinema despite the temptation to bring the film out on a streaming service amid the global health crisis.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski admitted that it was hard to cope with the various delays to the movie but was ultimately happy that fans had the chance to see the blockbuster on the big screen.

Kosinski to The Hollywood Reporter last year: "It was hard, but it would have been much worse to see the movie get released in a non-theatrical way because it is in the Top Gun DNA to be a theatrical experience.

"That is what we designed it for, and that is what Tom was adamant we were going to wait for. So, there was no question whether we were going to wait or not. It was just: How long?"

Meanwhile, in other highlights of the Oscar luncheon, Academy president Janet Yang told the attendees to keep their acceptance speeches during the March 12 ceremony to 45 seconds. “You’ve got to work with us,” she said. “This is live television after all. Translation: keep it short, sweet, and to the point, please.”

Watch this year's Oscar nominees assemble for the annual class photo:

Top Gun: Maverick is now streaming on HBO Go; The Fabelmans are now in cinemas. Mediacorp will livestream the 95th Academy Awards on meWATCH and Channel 5 on Mar 13, starting from 6.30am SGT (red carpet), with the main show at 8am. Same-day encore at 5.30pm (red carpet) and 10.30pm (main show).— BANG SHOWBIZ

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos

Watch exclusive 8 DAYS interviews on meWATCH and Mediacorp YouTube Channel.