Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger is penning a script for what would be a new installment, and sources say Maverick director Joe Kosinski would also return to direct. The intent is to reunite Tom Cruise with his next gen co-stars Miles Teller and Glen Powell.
The development comes days after Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Cruise had signed a deal to star and produce movies for Warners, though that pact is non-exclusive. The actor’s recent films have largely been at Paramount, though he did not have a deal there. While some could view the Top Gun news as a tit for tat in the war for Cruise headlines, the reality is this sequel has quietly been in development since late fall. Maverick was a massive overperformer at the box office in 2022, earning $1.5 billion globally and sparking Steven Spielberg to credit Cruise with saving the theatrical business, which had been long-suffering by the coronavirus pandemic. The feature followed decades after Tony Scott’s 1986 Top Gun, which helped cement Cruise as a rising movie star. Cruise is currently working on an eighth Mission: Impossible movie, which will keep him occupied until at least its release, currently set for May 2025.