Tom Cruise stops by Toronto screening of ‘Edge of Tomorrow’

ABOVE: Watch Tom Cruise chat with Global News on the red carpet at the Canadian premiere of Edge of Tomorrow.

TORONTO — Tom Cruise caused a frenzy Thursday night in downtown Toronto when he stopped by an advance screening of his new movie Edge of Tomorrow.

The movie star’s appearance on the red carpet inside the Scotiabank Theatre was a poorly-kept secret for several days and came a day after Cruise attended three premieres in 24 hours — in London, Paris and New York City.

In Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise plays an army officer who discovers he has the ability to reset the day by dying and uses this power to destroy the energy source of the aliens threatening mankind.

“I like seeing movies like this on the big screen,” Cruise told Global News.

“I make movies for the cinema. This is made for that kind of experience. I make my movies for audiences.”

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READ MORE: Cruise’s made-in-Toronto ‘Cocktail’ celebrates 25 years

Cruise called Edge of Tomorrow a “very big, entertaining, fun, popcorn cinema.”

Special effects and explosive combat scenes aside, the movie is also funny.

“Very funny,” Cruise said . “That’s my favourite thing, finding that kind of character comedy that we have in this movie.”

The 51-year-old actor is no stranger to Ontario, having attended Grades 4 through 6 in Ottawa and earned his pilot license in Toronto while then-wife Nicole Kidman was filming 1995’s To Die For in the city.

Cruise attended the Toronto International Film Festival in 1998 as producer of Without Limits and made a brief stop in the city in the summer of 2010 to visit daughter Suri while then-wife Katie Holmes was filming The Kennedys.

But it’s been 26 years since Cruise shot Cocktail in Toronto. Is it time to come back and work in the city again?

“I would love that,” Cruise said. “Yeah, I will come back. Buddies of mine have come here and made films. You’ve got get crews here. It would be a lot of fun to come back. It’s a great city.”

Edge of Tomorrow opens June 6.

BELOW: Watch the trailer for Edge of Tomorrow.