Third ‘Top Gun’ Movie in Development at Paramount

Ehren Kruger is aboard to write the script, with director Joseph Kosinski and co-stars Miles Teller and Glen Powell all rumored to return to the danger zone.

Tom Cruise on the set of 'Top Gun: Maverick' from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Preview:

Tom Cruise and Paramount are developing a third ‘Top Gun’ movie.
Ehren Kruger is writing the script.
Little else is known about the new movie beyond Joseph Kosinski once more likely to direct.

While the biggest news surrounding Tom Cruise this week has been word of him agreeing a deal to produce and appear in movies for Warner Bros., that was not going to be at the expense of his work with Paramount.

After all, he and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie are still deep in making the eighth (and currently untitled) ‘Mission Impossible’ movie, which is set for release next year.

And based on a new report from Puck, he could be taking to the skies again for a third ‘Top Gun’ movie to follow the hugely successful ‘Maverick’ in 2022.

Top Gun: Maverick

"Feel the need... The need for speed."

PG-132 hr 11 minMay 27th, 2022

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Top Gun: Maverick Online

What’s the story of the new ‘Top Gun’?

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in 'Top Gun: Maverick' from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

As of right now, there’s no script, so no one has any idea of what might happen in the new movie. But we can expect to see Cruise back as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, the veteran pilot who was brought in for ‘Maverick’ to teach some cocky younger pilots how to fly a tricky mission.

What he’ll be up to next time is anyone’s guess, but we’d guess he’ll still be pushing back against authority and living by his own rules.

Who is involved with the next ‘Top Gun’?

Monica Barbaro and Tom Cruise on the set of 'Top Gun: Maverick' from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Ehren Kruger, who was one of several writers on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is aboard to work on the first draft of the script, but you’ve got to figure that Cruise’s regular creative collaborator McQuarrie, who helped land the last movie from a writing and producing front, will also have a hand.

As for a director, ‘Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski may well return, because reuniting the team feels like the best idea if the studio wants to replicate the success.

In front of the camera, there’s talk of Miles Teller (who played Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Mitchell’s deceased old friend and radar intercept officer, who harbored a grudge against our hero) and Glen Powell (as cocky pilot Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin) coming back for more flight action. Given how audiences responded, particularly to Hangman, that would be a good move.

When will a new ‘Top Gun’ movie fly on to screens?

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in 'Top Gun: Maverick' from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Don’t go expecting this one any time soon. It took years to crack ‘Maverick’ and given Cruise’s busy schedule (beyond finishing the next ‘Mission: Impossible’, he has several other movies on his to do list), it could be at least a couple of years before this one is filming, let alone jumping off the cinematic deck and shoving into overdrive.

So if you’re waiting for Maverick and co to buzz the cine-tower, you’re going to have to be patient.