Tom Cruise shows off grey stubble at Mission Impossible premiere amid reports Top Gun sequel has been delayed by a YEAR

TOM Cruise showed off grey stubble in China last night at the premiere of his latest blockbuster Mission:Impossible - Fallout.

Famous for getting up close and personal with his fans at movie openings, Tom, 56, posed for photos and signed autographs outside The Ancestral Temple in Beijing.

The star looked dapper in a dark suit as he posed on the red carpet with British co-star Simon Pegg who plays geeky gadget technician Benji Dunn in the Mission movies.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout is the sixth film in the action-adventure franchise - based on the 1960s TV series.

It has already been a big box office hit in both the US and the UK.

The latest instalment, which was partly filmed in London, sees secret agent Ethan Hunt and his team on a mission to stop terrorists wrecking havoc with portable nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, fans looking forward to the forthcoming Top Gun sequel will have to wait a lot longer.

Paramount have announced the release date for Top Gun: Maverick has been pushed back almost a year and the film will now be released on June 26, 2020 instead of the previously announced July 12, 2019.

In the long-awaited sequel, Tom will reprise his role as Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell alongside original co-star Val Kilmer as Commander Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky.

New cast members include Miles Teller as trainee pilot Bradley Bradshaw, the son of the late Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw from the original film, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris and Mad Men's Jon Hamm.

Kelly McGillis who played female flight instructor Charlotte Blackwood in the original Top Gun has previously said she'd be interested in making a cameo appearance in the new film.