You donโt generate $1.5 billion in global box office receipts, โsaveโ the business of traditional cinema, and set a new standard for practical effects like Joseph Kosinskiโs Top Gun: Maverick has without sparking franchise conversations. Hence why Top Gun 3 is now in development over at Paramount, according to Deadline:
โTop Gun: Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger [is] currently writing a draftโฆ The word is that the project would reunite Tom Cruise with Maverickโs Miles Teller and Glen Powell as well as producers Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison. Joe Kosinski will reportedly either direct or produce.โ
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The report came shortly after the news that Tom Cruise โ who reprised his iconic role as Captain Pete โMaverickโ Mitchell โ had inked a non-exclusive pact with Warner Bros; which may or may not impact the โlast real movie starโsโ ongoing shooting schedule.
For context, Mr Cruise has already committed to both Mission: Impossible โ Dead Reckoning (Part 2) and the long-rumoured space movie collab with Doug Liman and NASA to be shot on location (yes, really). Then thereโs the matter of a potential Tropic Thunder spin-off with Christopher McQuarrie.
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โWe definitely wanted to do another after the first one became such a success,โ Jerry Bruckheimer assured BH around the time of Maverickโs release.
Elsewhere, the legendary producer noted: โBut you never know when itโs going to get made because Tom is so busy. Heโs doing Mission: Impossible right now, heโs got a picture after it. Hopefully, weโll get a screenplay that he loves, and weโll be back in the air again.โ
Hereโs everything we know about Top Gun 3 so far.
Jump To:
- Has Top Gun 3 been confirmed?
- What could the third Top Gun movie be about?
- Do we know the Top Gun 3 cast members?
- When is the Top Gun 3 release date? Noโฆ but there is a โdateโ
- Is there a Top Gun 3 trailer?
Has Top Gun 3 been confirmed?
As of January 2024, Top Gun 3 has been greenlit for development by Paramount Pictures with Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger currently penning a draft of the proposed screenplay.
Not entirely surprising considering Top Gun: Maverick wasnโt just the worldโs highest-grossing summer blockbuster of 2022 โ it was the worldโs highest-grossing film of 2022 period (overtaking Marvelโs Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). And Paramountโs second-best-performing film of all time behind James Cameronโs Titanic.
In other words, a trilogy was almost inevitable.
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What could the third Top Gun movie be about?
Aside from making the fighter pilot grind resemble every hot-blooded blokeโs dream as per the franchise signature, a third movie could take any number of directions.
The most obvious route has been established in Top Gun: Maverick with Miles Tellerโs Rooster (Lieutenant Bradley Mitchell). Now that heโs a more complete fighter pilot whoโs overcome all the emotional baggage he carried regarding:
- The death of his father LTJG Nick โGooseโ Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards)
- Cruiseโs Maverick and his supposed blame in said death
- Cruiseโs Maverick pulling his application from the US Navy, thereby setting his career back several yearsโฆ
โฆthe torch is ready to be passed on, allowing old Captain Pete Mitchell to retire and start a family with Jennifer Connellyโs Penny Benjamin.
But knowing Tom Cruise, the action flick fixture โ whoโs still dangling off airborne planes despite being in his 60s โ wonโt sign on for another Top Gun unless he receives a minimum hour of screentime involving an F/A-18 Hornetโs cockpit. The man just refuses to be benched.
In light of the fact Mr Cruise has been quite buddy-buddy with Hollywoodโs latest poster boy and Twisters leading man Glen Powell โ to the point where the former enrolled the latter into his own โfilm schoolโ โ thereโs every chance Top Gun 3 could be far more Hangman-centric.
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Do we know the Top Gun 3 cast members?
Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, and Glen Powell are essentially the only cast members attached to the project at this stage; reprising their respective roles as Captain Pete โMaverickโ Mitchell, as Lieutenant Bradley โRoosterโ Bradshaw, and Lieutenant Jake โHangmanโ Seresin.
While everyone from Jennifer Connelly to Monica Barbaro has expressed interest in returning โ and we imagine the likes of Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, as well as Charles Parnell would also be eager for the gig โ not further casting details surrounding Top Gun 3 has been confirmed just yet.
โIโve been having some conversations with him [Tom Cruise] about it. Weโll see. That would be great, but thatโs all up to TC. Itโs all up to Tom,โ Miles Teller has previously stated.
โFor him to share Top Gun with me and a lot of these other young actors, itโs just been such a wild ride, and itโs still going.โ
In the same vein, currently, thereโs no guarantee director Joseph Kosinski will return to personally helm the film at this stage. Especially given his equally ambitious upcoming projects like Appleโs F1 movie starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris with real-life seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton involved (and beyond).
When is the Top Gun 3 release date? Noโฆ but there is a โdateโ
While Top Gun 3 doesnโt have a release date, it does have a start date for production, according to Glen Powell.
During his recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast alongside Twisters co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones, the duo were asked whether it was more likely weโll see a Normal People continuation or a third Top Gun film โ to which the man of the moment replied:
โI mean, I have a date.โ
(via Indiewire)
When probed for further details, Powell stopped things short with, โAbsolutely not.โ
Assuming Top Gun 3 will be tackled immediately after Mission: Impossible 8 โ which only resumed resumed production in March 2024 after the Hollywood strikes and is scheduled to premiere on May 23rd, 2025 โ and the usual global press tour, the earliest cameras could begin rolling in the skies is early-to-mid 2025.
Meaning the earliest Top Gun 3 could hit theatres would be around early-to-mid 2027โฆ At which point Tom Cruise will be pushing 65. And again: this is all under extremely optimistic circumstances.
Is there a Top Gun 3 trailer?
There definitely isnโt a Top Gun 3 trailer. Revisit both Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick via Netflix in the meantime.
Check out our one-on-one interviews with Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, and Mr Bruckheimer plus our review of Top Gun: Maverick.
