'Top Gun' star lost most of his voice and uses AI to get it back 1:37
(CNN Business)--
"Top Gun: Maverick" hits theaters this weekend, marking the return of one of the biggest movie stars of the '80s and '90s.
We're not talking about Tom Cruise.
Val Kilmer returns to the screen to reprise his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 blockbuster. Cruise is the main star of "Top Gun: Maverick," and while Kilmer has a notable role, he may Some younger moviegoers may not realize what a huge star he once was.
Kilmer's films have grossed a huge amount of money throughout his long career: nearly $2 billion at the worldwide box office, according to Comscore (SCOR).
(Cruise racks up more than $10 billion at the worldwide box office.)
Kilmer, like Cruise, became a big star in "Top Gun," playing "Iceman," the cocky but genius rival of Cruise's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.
advertising
Two weeks before its premiere, we already know how "Top Gun: Maverick" is
Following that iconic role, Kilmer went on to star in a long string of hit movies that spans all genres: superhero flicks like 1995's "Batman Forever" in which he played the Dark Knight, and memorable turns on westerns like Doc Holliday's " Tombstone" in 1993, biopics as Jim Morrison in "The Doors" in 1991 and in crime movies as a bank robber in Michael Mann's 1995 masterpiece "Heat."
Val Kilmer on his cancer and the "Top Gun" sequel
But "Top Gun: Maverick" is probably the swan song for Kilmer, who underwent a tracheostomy that completely altered his voice.
Kilmer revealed in 2017 that he had throat cancer and has taken a long way from acting.
Val Kilmer opens up about his fight against throat cancer
Kilmer's off-screen health issues are woven into the story of "Top Gun: Maverick," giving the sequel an emotional layer of real life.
If the new film is indeed Kilmer's last role, it will conclude one of the most exciting and profitable careers in Hollywood history.
Last year, Kilmer appeared in "Val," an intimate documentary about his health struggles and exploring his career.
The documentary shares interactions she videotaped with her family and on sets over the years.
David Rooney, chief film critic for The Hollywood Reporter, wrote in his review that the most moving element of "Top Gun: Maverick" comes during the brief screen time of Kilmer's character, Iceman, whose health problems reflect the that the actor suffers in real life, generating a resounding suffering".
Miles Teller on flying the jets in "Top Gun": Tom organized a boot camp for everyone
"There is reciprocal warmth, even love, in a scene between Iceman and Maverick that acknowledges the characters' hard-earned bond, as well as the rivalry that preceded it, with delicate humor," Rooney wrote.
laryngeal cancerTop Gun: Maverick