In the works for years, the sequel to 1986 Tom Cruise classic Top Gun was derailed by the sudden death of director Tony Scott. While the film is still pretty early on as a director has yet to be found, a script has been in development for awhile, first by Cruise's pal Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation) and most recently by Justin Marks. Cruise has always been set to return to the role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, but whether that would be in a cameo or as the lead has been less defined. Well, now we know Cruise is fully intending to get back into the cockpit as the film's star. Here's what Skydance CEO David Ellison said when asked about Top Gun 2 during a Terminator Genisys press event....
"Justin Marks is writing the screenplay right now. He has a phenomenal take to really update that world for what fighter pilots in the Navy has turned into today. There is an amazing role for Maverick in the movie and there is no Top Gun without Maverick, and it is going to be Maverick playing Maverick. It is I don’t think what people are going to expect, and we are very, very hopeful that we get to make the movie very soon. But like all things, it all comes down to the script, and Justin is writing as we speak.
So not much of a surprise there, and neither is it new to learn that the story will center on the "end" of the dogfighting era due to the prevalence of drone technology. That idea has been the backbone of this story since the beginning, but it sounds like the plan is to find a way to incorporate some aerial combat so Cruise can do his thing, while similarly exploring what it's like for fighter pilots like Maverick as drones become the norm. Sounds a lot like Good Kill, but perhaps a bit less grim and heavy-handed. Here's what Ellison says, while confirming the film will be in 3D and IMAX as previously suspected...
"Absolutely, I think this is a movie that should be in 3-D and in IMAX, and again something that you can shoot practically. As everyone knows with Tom, he is 100% going to want to be in those airplanes shooting it practically. 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. This world has not been explored. 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 are all fun things that we’re gonna get to dive into in this movie."
No word on a start date or anything yet, so don't expect to see Top Gun 2 flying into theaters anytime soon.
