The Weeknd Prioritizes Promoting Tom Cruise in ‘Mission: Impossible’ Over His Critically Maligned ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ | Video

The Weeknd decided to open his “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” interview Thursday night by promoting “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” ahead of his new film, “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” 

The interview began with Fallon thanking The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, for letting “The Tonight Show” frequently use his music, including in 2015 when Tom Cruise did a lip-sync performance of “I Can’t Feel My Face” on the NBC late-night series. “Did you end up seeing that?” Fallon asked. “Oh, I saw it,” Tesfaye responded. “It actually helped the song. It helped it peak to the record-breaking top [charts]. I mean, thanks to him, obviously, [thanks] to the biggest movie star in the world.”

While he admitted that he has never actually met Cruise, Tesfaye decided to repay the star for promoting his music by promoting “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” before even mentioning his own film “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” which is now playing in theaters. “I thought that maybe, to return the favor, I’d promote a little bit of ‘Mission: Impossible,'” Tesfaye revealed, just before putting on a “Mission: Impossible” hat and reading a piece of marketing for “The Final Reckoning.”

You can watch the full “Tonight Show” interview yourself in the video below.

Unfortunately for both Tesfaye and Cruise, both of their films have received underwhelming initial responses. “Hurry Up Tomorrow” currently holds a low 15% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Tesfaye stars in the Trey Edward Shults-directed film as a fictional version of himself who is on the verge of a mental breakdown when he experiences a life-changing encounter with a mysterious, passionate fan (played by “Wednesday” star Jenna Ortega). 

The film, which also counts Barry Keoghan among its stars, serves as a companion piece to The Weeknd’s sixth studio album of the same name.

“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” meanwhile, currently holds an 80% Tomatometer score. That is much better than “Hurry Up Tomorrow’s” 15%, but it is also the lowest the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has dipped since 2006’s “Mission: Impossible III.” In TheWrap’s review of the new — and potentially last — “Mission: Impossible” sequel, critic William Bibbiani wrote that the film’s “epic stunts balance out the convoluted script and shameless adulation of its producer and star.”

In addition to praising Cruise as the world’s “biggest movie star,” Tesfaye also used his “Tonight Show” interview to shout out some of his favorite Cruise movies, including “The Color of Money,” “Vanilla Sky” and “Magnolia.”

You can watch the full “The Tonight Show” segment in the video above.

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