American actor Tom Cruise will return to the title role for the third “Top Gun” film after the huge success of “Maverick”, according to The Independent and USA Today.
The film is in the works, the Paramount Pictures studio announced on Thursday at the American trade fair for film industry professionals, CinemaCon, which is being held in Las Vegas.
Tom Cruise, 63, will return as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in a third Top Gun film. He first portrayed the character in the 1986 film and returned in the second film, Maverick, which was a huge box office success, grossing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide.
Josh Greenstein, co-president of Paramount Pictures, revealed that Top Gun 3 is “in development, with the script being developed, and will reunite Tom Cruise and (producer) Jerry Bruckheimer,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor didn't come to the Paramount presentation, but appeared in a video that aired at the start of the event.
In it, Cruise appeared atop the famous Hollywood studio water tower, stating, “The future looks bright from here.”
There is currently no word on who else will be part of the film's cast, though “Maverick” has brought in a new cast of stars who could return, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman and Monica Barbaro. In 2024, Powell hinted that he would reprise his role and even cryptically hinted that he knew when filming would begin.
The director of “Top Gun 3” has not been announced yet either. “Maverick” was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who took over the project after the original “Top Gun” director Tony Scott passed away in 2012.
While it's no surprise that Paramount Pictures would like to repeat the success of “Maverick,” the news has caused some consternation in Hollywood, given that Cruise has signed a new deal with rival studio Warner Bros. in 2024.
The two companies are currently in the process of a large-scale merger, which has also caused negative reactions.
The director of Paramount Skydance, David Ellison, took the opportunity to announce at CinemaCon a 45-day broadcast period for the group's films before they are available on streaming platforms, amid tensions related to the merger with Warner Bros., notes News.ro.
“Once we merge with Warner Bros, we'll be producing at least 30 movies a year,” he promised, before adding: “Long live the movies.”
Paramount Skydance announced in February the acquisition of its competitor Warner Bros for $111 billion, ending a long-running battle with Netflix.
Hollywood fears that this acquisition will lead to a decrease in investment in film production, which could cause a domino effect in an industry that employs tens of thousands of people, especially in California.
