Paramount and Skydance’s upcoming Tom Cruise action sequel Top Gun: Maverick will reportedly land at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. The original Top Gun came out in 1986 and rocketed to huge box office returns, grossing $176 million domestically ($429 million adjusted for inflation). The film also helped blow up Cruise into one of the biggest movie stars in the world.
Cruise is still riding high as a global superstar over 30 years later, and now he’s ready to revisit his smash hit Top Gun with a long-awaited sequel. The new film sees Cruise’s Maverick, now older but possibly not that much wiser, acting as a flight instructor and becoming a mentor to the son of his late co-pilot Goose. Miles Teller landed the coveted role of Goose’s son Bradley after a ferocious competition that also involved Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell (the latter of whom ultimately landed a different role in the film). The movie’s cast also includes Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris and a returning Val Kilmer as his fabled Top Gun character Iceman.
It’s still a long way out from the release of Top Gun: Maverick and there hasn’t been any footage made available to the general public yet, but fans may soon get their first taste of the sequel as Paramount is reportedly bringing the movie to San Diego Comic-Con (via Deadline). Cruise reportedly is not yet confirmed for the event, but expectations are that he will arrive in San Diego to help push the movie. This year’s event is set for July 18-21.
Given the huge success of the original Top Gun, and its enduring status as an ‘80s pop culture touchstone, there was always talk about the potential for a sequel, but things didn’t really get rolling until 2017 when Cruise began teasing that a follow-up was on the way. Joseph Kosinski, who previously worked with Cruise on the sci-fi film Oblivion, soon hopped aboard as director. Since then, Cruise’s long-time close collaborator Christopher McQuarrie has come aboard to work on the script, and Hans Zimmer has been tapped to collaborate on the score together with original Top Gun composer Harold Faltermeyer. And yes, Kenny Loggins has also volunteered to write a song for the new movie over 30 years after his Top Gun tune “Danger Zone” became a hit.
It remains to be seen if Cruise and company’s Top Gun: Maverick will catch on with audiences the same way the original movie did back in 1986. Naturally, the first film’s hyper-macho formula will have to be tweaked for today’s more diversity-minded world. But there’s no reason to expect that the new movie won’t still be a celebration of military values and brotherhood like the original movie. And no doubt Cruise’s Maverick will still have a need for speed.
Key Release Dates
Top Gun: Maverick
Release Date:2022-05-27
