Top Gun 3 'in the works with Tom Cruise'
We're heading back to the danger zone.
Top Gun is reportedly returning to the skies for a third entry at Paramount Pictures, with star Tom Cruise hoped to come back alongside his Maverick co-stars.
The belated sequel to the 1986 film proved something of an unexpected hit more than 30 years later, earning rave reviews from critics and racking up $1.5 billion at the global box office.
With this in mind, it's surprising that a sequel has taken so long to get off the ground (no pun intended), with The Hollywood Reporter revealing that Top Gun 3 only started development in late autumn 2023 (after the resolution of the WGA strikes).
The trade publication also revealed that Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger is returning to pen the new script, while sources have said that director Joseph Kosinski will also come back for another mission.
The report named Miles Teller and Glen Powell as two desired actors for the threequel, following their celebrated turns as rival pilots Rooster and Hangman in the preceding 2022 blockbuster.
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At the time of Maverick's release, Teller spoke to RadioTimes.com about the prospect of another outing.
He said: "I think that's up to Tom. But I mean, yeah, if somebody presents an idea to him, and he thinks it's worthy, and he wants me to continue playing this character – then yeah, I would love to."
Teller reunited with Maverick director Kosinski on Netflix original thriller Spiderhead, while Powell is currently enjoying a solid box office run with his romcom Anyone But You (co-starring The White Lotus's Sydney Sweeney).
No release date has yet been set, but THR notes that Cruise will be busy filming the eighth (and possibly final) Mission: Impossible film until May 2025, so filming could realistically only kick off some time later.
Top Gun cast members not mentioned in the report include Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, Jay Ellis, Monica Barbaro, Manny Jacinto and Danny Ramirez, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility that they too could return.
On the difficulty of crafting a sequel, Ramirez told RadioTimes.com: "I think so much about Top Gun: Maverick was, even in the flight sequences, you see the limits being pushed, and they get more intense.
"And by the end, it's like some Top Gun pilots have never even flown something like this in real life. In regards to what we're telling narratively, where does it go from there?
"It's got to continue the progression of pushing the limit, and that's where it feels tough to even think of what that could be. But if there was a universe, I'm down!"
Cruise recently signed a non-exclusive deal with Warner Bros, which was deemed surprising by some industry followers due to his long-running association with Paramount – home to both the Top Gun and Mission: Impossible franchises.
Top Gun: Maverick is available to stream on Paramount Plus. Get a seven day free Paramount Plus trial at Amazon Prime Video.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
