Christopher McQuarrie is Writing ‘Top Gun 3’ — “We Cracked the Story”

Well, color me shocked.

According to Christopher McQuarrie —Tom Cruise’s longtime collaborator and, possibly, his valet—is penning the script for ‘Top Gun 3,’ and has already “cracked” the story for the third instalment (via Happy Sad Confused).

It’s already in the bag. It wasn’t hard. I thought it would be, and that’s a good place to go from as you walk into the room going, ‘Come on, what are we going to do? So, no, it wasn’t hard to crack. The truth of the matter is, none of these are hard to crack.

Given McQuarrie’s deep involvement in Cruise’s recent projects, it raises the question: will he also step in to direct? The previous film, “Top Gun: Maverick,” was helmed by Joseph Kosinski. For now, McQuarrie is pocketing a cool $5M to write the script.

The sequel is set to reunite Cruise with co-stars Miles Teller and Glen Powell, along with producers Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison. Powell mentioned last year that the cast had been asked to “hold a date” for filming, though no specific timeline was given.

‘Maverick’ was a massive hit, earning $1.4 billion globally—even without a release in China. It became a genuine cultural phenomenon, drawing audiences back to theaters in the midst of the pandemic.

McQuarrie, who earned an Oscar for The Usual Suspects, made his directorial debut with 2000’s “The Way of the Gun.” Since then, he has become Tom Cruise’s most frequent creative partner, writing and directing action hits like “Jack Reacher, and the last four ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies. He also contributed as a writer and/or producer on several other Cruise projects, including “Valkyrie,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” and “The Mummy.”