Tom Cruise "dreamed" of releasing 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One' in cinemas.

The Hollywood icon reprises his role as Ethan Hunt in the new action blockbuster and is delighted that the movie has finally reached the big screen after the obstacles posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the film's New York premiere on Monday (10.07.23), Tom said: "We talked about it. We dreamed about it. It's very, very special.

"On 'Top Gun: Maverick', they kept pushing the movie and pushing the movie, and for (McQuarrie) and I, this is such an ambitious movie. And it was a very challenging film to produce, and then everything happened, and it was even more challenging. So to have this response... is very, very special."

Tom has championed the cinema experience amid the challenges of the pandemic but isn't feeling under pressure to make the new flick a success at the box office.

The 61-year-old star explained: "I'm just going to make the best films that I can make, and I want them all to perform well, and I want all of the other films to perform well.

"I think about a movie in terms of the quality and longevity, I invest everything in it. So, really, my job is just to try to make the best film I possibly can to entertain the audience for that particular genre."

Leaked audio footage showed Cruise yelling at a crew member who was not abiding by social distancing rules during the pandemic and his co-star Simon Pegg explained that the star lost his temper as he feared COVID-19 would "wipe cinema off the face of the earth".

He told Sunday Times Culture magazine: "Everything that Tom cares about, in terms of his job, was at stake due to the pandemic.

"For him there was a danger this virus could wipe cinema off the face of this earth.

"People can argue that cinema is frivolous. But it’s not. Cinema brings people together at a time we’re pulling apart, and that just added to Tom’s determination to put people in a room together. The power of cinema is, for him, precious and it’s vital we sustain it."