Skip to main content

Top Gun producer teases sequel with Tom Cruise photo

The long-rumored sequel to Top Gun suddenly seems like it’s getting closer to takeoff now that producer Jerry Bruckheimer has posted a photo with Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell himself, Tom Cruise.

Bruckheimer, who produced the 1986 film and will serve a similar role on a potential sequel, posted the photo to Twitter after a visit with Cruise in New Orleans. According to Bruckheimer’s caption on the photo, their meeting did indeed include some discussion of Top Gun 2.

Recommended Videos

“Just got back from a weekend in New Orleans to see my old friend @TomCruise and discuss a little Top Gun 2,” wrote Bruckheimer.

Buzz surrounding a potential sequel to Top Gun has increased in recent months, with Cruise’s co-star in the original film, Val Kilmer, reporting that he was asked back in November 2015 to reprise his role in a follow-up film. While nothing is official at this point, the pieces certainly appear to be falling into place for the sequel.

Just got back from a weekend in New Orleans to see my old friend @TomCruise and discuss a little Top Gun 2. pic.twitter.com/vA2xK7S7JS

— BRUCKHEIMER FILMS/TV (@BRUCKHEIMERJB) January 26, 2016

Late last year, Skydance Productions CEO David Ellison hinted that the Top Gun sequel would likely deal with the changing face of warfare now that drone technology has decreased the need for manned flights. Describing an early draft of the script that was being penned by Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-li screenwriter Justin Marks, Ellison said the film would delve into what the world has turned into for fighter pilots in the Navy today.

“When you look at the world of dogfighting, what’s interesting about it is that it’s not a world that exists to the same degree when the original movie came out,” said Ellison. “It is very much a world we live in today where it’s drone technology and fifth-generation fighters are really what the United States Navy is calling the last man-made fighter that we’re actually going to produce. So it’s really exploring the end of an era of dogfighting and fighter pilots and what that culture is today.”

As for Cruise reprising his role, Ellison said there’s no question as to whether Maverick would be back.

“There is no Top Gun without Maverick, and it is going to be Maverick playing Maverick,” he said.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
Tom Cruise is in early talks for a Days of Thunder sequel
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise stand beside one another in Days of Thunder.

Legacy sequels have become one of the biggest new veins of Hollywood IP in recent years, and few stars know that better than Tom Cruise. The actor, who starred in the hugely successful Top Gun: Maverick, is now reportedly in talks to star in another sequel to one of his earlier hits.

Variety is reporting that Cruise is in early talks to star in a sequel to Days of Thunder, his 1990 movie about a race car driver who is recruited to a new NASCAR team led by Robert Duvall. Days of Thunder is Cruise’s only official writing credit to date, and it’s also where he met Nicole Kidman, who he would be married to for 11 years.

Read more
The most popular sci-fi movie on Netflix right now is this Tom Cruise modern-day classic
A man in gear looks ahead in Edge of Tomorrow.

In 2014, Edge of Tomorrow was first released in theaters. Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's beloved manga series All You Need is Kill, the film adaptation focuses on Major William Cage (2024 Summer Olympics daredevil Tom Cruise), a public relations specialist who is thrown into the middle of a deadly war against aliens called mimics. The movie sees the protagonist stuck in a time loop as he figures out how to defeat the monstrous attackers. Along the way, he meets famed Sergeant Rita Vrataski (The Fall Guy's Emily Blunt) and lives, dies, and repeats the same battle-filled day over and over again.

Despite earning acclaim from critics and audiences alike, with a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.6/10 user rating on Metacritic, the film was only a modest box office hit. However, more than a decade after its initial release, the Doug Liman-directed project is fondly remembered as a modern science fiction classic. Here are three reasons why you should check out the movie on Netflix right now.

Read more
Tom Cruise pulls epic stunt at the Olympics closing ceremony
A photo of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower.

THANK YOU PARIS! Closing Ceremony Highlights | #Paris2024

The video above may not be available in some regions. You can watch it in the X (formerly Twitter) post below.

Read more