Sequels are a sore spot. Some are great, maybe even better, than the original film. But usually, they fall flat, creating a legion of lifelong haters. That didn’t stop Tom Cruise from making Top Gun: Maverick, though. Luckily, Maverick turned out to be a massive success. Now, Cruise wants to recreate that same awesome sauce with Days of Thunder.
If my calculations are correct, there was a 36-year gap between the original Top Gun and Maverick. That is a looong time. For anything. Let alone a sequel. Heck, some of you reading this aren’t even that old.
If DoT 2 experiences a similar timeline pause, it would be out in 2026. But that is not going to happen. There is no script. There is no budget. There is no director. So far, there is only Tom Cruise and an idea. Paramount, the film studio behind Top Gun and DoT, is in discussions with Cruise on the matter but won’t officially comment.
“It’s going to be what comes together first in terms of a script. It depends on the idea and, ultimately, the script,” a studio insider told The Hollywood Reporter. A script that Cruise would have to approve, which he tends to have final say on.
If that’s not enough of a production hurdle, although Cruise is as popular as ever, he is also 62 years old right now. But maybe a role that involves a lot of sitting down would do him some good. I mean, the man has got to be exhausted from jumping across a canyon on a motorcycle, scaling the Burj Khalifa, and flying jets all the damn time. I need a nap just thinking about his stunts.
For those afraid of audience fatigue with regard to racing movies and TV shows, Halloween was Thursday. You can relax. Yes, there has been a slew of motorsports-inspired docu-dramas and big-budget films released in the last few years, but most of them revolve around Europe-centric series like Formula One and Le Mans. Days of Thunder is about ‘Murica and NASCAR. [cracks open a Coors.]
A Days of Thunder sequel doesn’t seem like an awful idea, to be honest. If it’s done with the same level of attention and care as Maverick was to Top Gun, it could be another global hit, spawn a new franchise, create more motorsports fans—there is so much upside.
But if the production puzzle takes too long to put together, Paramount might as well develop a completely different NASCAR-themed movie, and Tom Cruise can do whatever Tom Cruise would do at, um, 80. Still jumping out of planes, probably.