Paramount Pictures
A sequel to one of the biggest films of the decade is officially in the works, as reports indicate that development has begun on a third film in the Top Gun franchise, with Tom Cruise set to return.
Puck News was the first to report on the official development of the film at Paramount Pictures:
Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger is now officially at work on a follow-up to the 2022 megahit that will reunite Cruise with co-stars Miles Teller and Glen Powell, as well as producers Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison, and Joe Kosinski will either direct or produce.
The news of a third Top Gun film comes just days after news broke that Cruise had signed a non-exclusive development deal with Warner Bros.
In addition to Mission: Impossible 8 and Top Gun 3, Cruise is still attached to the Universal film that’s set to be partially shot in space and directed by Edge of Tomorrow filmmaker Doug Liman.
Furthermore, reports from The Hollywood Reporter indicate that Cruise’s deal with Warner Bros. comes with “a green light on an unidentified thriller or a big-budget action franchise starter.”
Cruise’s next film will be Mission: Impossible 8, which was originally set to be subtitled Dead Reckoning Part Two and released in 2024. However, due to the actors’ strikes (and perhaps the relatively disappointing box office returns for Dead Reckoning Part One), the “Part Two” has been scrapped and the film has been delayed to the summer of 2025.
All of these massive projects centering around a 61-year-old are undoubtedly a big bet but given the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, Cruise obviously still has the star power to make a billion-dollar movie.
Late last year, it was reported that Warner Bros and Paramount had explored the possibility of a merger, too, which means Cruise’s old home could one day become his new one, and vice verse.