Confirmed: ‘Top Gun 3’ in the Works

I’m not sure what’s happening this week, but a handful of my December scoops are being confirmed by the trades.

The latest one has to do with ‘Top Gun 3.’ On 12.05.23 I reported that Paramount and Tom Cruise were working on a sequel to 2022’s mega-blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.” Puck’s Matt Belloni is now hearing the same thing.

‘’Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger is officially at work on the script, which will reunite Cruise with co-stars Miles Teller, and Glen Powell, as well as producers Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison. Joseph Kosinski is expected to direct and/or produce.

If the script goes according to plan, ‘Top Gun 3’ would most likely be Cruise’s next movie after M:I 8 — his Doug Liman space movie at Universal, which still needs the green light from NASA, has been in active development for a few years.

Now, when would ‘Top Gun 3’ start production? Last month, I wrote having heard whispers that the tentative plan is for a 2025 production start, and, after Puck’s report, it’s sure looking as that will be the case.

Cruise is currently shooting ‘Mission: Impossible 8’ and director Joseph Kosinski will be spending most of this year working on his Formula One movie, starring Brad Pitt. Otherwise, I’m hearing that the ‘Maverick’ sequel could very well be next for both of them.

“Top Gun: Maverick” made $1.4B dollars worldwide, and that’s without a China release. It was a wildly popular cultural event that brought audiences back to theaters during the pandemic. There’s almost zero chance the heads at Paramount haven’t been constantly on the phone with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Cruise about getting the wheels rolling for this third film. They need a hit.

To many, ‘Maverick’ was the perfect sequel and wrap up, and there is no "need" for a third film, but it would have been highly unusual for Paramount not to produce another film in the franchise, and it looks as though it is now definitely a go.