It’s languished on the fringes of development for years, spouting nine kinds of rumors and speculation as to whether Tom Cruise would ever suit up once again as the best-in-class Naval aviator, Lt. Pete Mitchell. Now, we have an answer: Top Gun 2 has been cleared for takeoff, and it’ll enter production early next year bearing the title Top Gun: Maverick.
That’s according to Cruise himself, who made the announcement while chatting to Access Hollywood. Currently in the midst of The Mummy‘s press tour – expect the Hollywood veteran to anchor the first of Universal’s Dark Universe movies on June 9th – Tom Cruise noted that the long-rumored sequel will be “stylistically” similar to the original, which helped launch his career into the stratosphere back in ’86. One of the ways in which Maverick will hew close to its forebear is in the soundtrack department, with Harold Faltermeyer returning to score the follow-up.
Story-wise, the actor then went on to tease “a progression” for his Lt. Pete Mitchell, and how Top Gun: Maverick will retain the gleeful sense of competition that ensured the 1986 original went on to become a cheesy sleeper hit.
Per Access Hollywood:
Aviators are back, the need for speed. We’re going to have big, fast machines. It’s going to be a competition film, like the first one…but a progression for Maverick.
Now that the wheels have been set in motion, Val Kilmer took to Instagram to declare his interest in Top Gun: Maverick, and why he’d jump at the chance to reprise as Iceman (AKA Tom Kazansky).
Top Gun: Maverick is a go, and it’ll likely begin filming in the early stages of 2018. Expect further details to emerge, including whether or not Joseph Kosinski closes a deal to direct, over the coming weeks but for now, you can share your knee-jerk reaction to Cruise’s announcement via the usual place below.
