Tom Cruise will receive the 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award at a gala taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 24, 2027, the American Film Institute Board of Trustees announced Wednesday.
“Tom Cruise is a global icon. As an actor and producer, he brings an extraordinary commitment to everything he does,” Kathleen Kennedy, chair of the AFI Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “What I especially admire is his deep belief in movies and their ability to bring people together. That passion has made him an extraordinary ambassador for American film around the world. It is AFI’s honor to present him with the 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award.”
Described by the AFI as “the highest honor given for a career in film,” the Life Achievement Award is given to one person annually who meets the Board’s criteria: “The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”
The first Life Achievement Award went to John Ford in 1973. In the intervening years, it has gone to luminaries including Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Barbara Stanwyck, Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Sidney Poitier, Martin Scorsese, Julie Andrews and Denzel Washington. Eddie Murphy was the 2026 honoree.
Over the course of his five-decade career, Cruise has starred in movies that have grossed nearly $13 billion worldwide. He has been nominated for three acting Oscars, for “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Jerry Maguire” and “Magnolia,” and one for producing 2023 Best Picture nominee “Top Gun: Maverick,” also the highest-grossing film of his career at $1.5 billion.
He most recently starred in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s divisive-but-respected satire “Digger.”
AFI is currently celebrating it 40th AFI Fest, spreading love for cinema all across L.A.
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