LAS VEGAS >> Tom Cruise opened his highly anticipated CinemaCon appearance on Thursday with a moving tribute to his “Top Gun” co-star, Val Kilmer, who died Tuesday in Los Angeles.

“He loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us with his performances and his films,” Cruise said to a room full of movie theater owners. “I really can’t tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought of him as a human being, and how grateful and honored I was when he joined ‘Top Gun’ and then came back for ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’”

Cruise called for a moment of silence, which stood in stark contrast to the otherwise action-packed presentation of Paramount Pictures’ upcoming movies.

“Thank you, Val. I wish you well on your next journey,” he said to the silent room.

Cruise was there to hype “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” the eighth installment of the franchise set to hit theaters May 23.

Given that the 62-year-old is one of the rare stars who is still a near-guarantee for box office success, Cruise is an unsurprising darling of the annual convention and trade show in Las Vegas, where studios hype up cinemas and seek to convince theater owners they can lure audiences out of the house.

Most celebrity appearances throughout the convention comprise a few minutes onstage. But Cruise gave a thoughtful, off-the-prompter tribute to Christopher McQuarrie — or as Cruise calls him, McQ — who was honored as CinemaCon’s director of the year.

The speech, followed by a long list of thank-yous to colleagues and the audience, lasted nearly 20 minutes before a new trailer was introduced.

Cruise talked at length about following the filmmaker’s career after McQuarrie, at 26, won the Oscar for original screenplay for “The Usual Suspects.”

“Most people are still finding their voices at that age, but McQ had already written a film that changed the cinematic landscape,” Cruise said.