While there's no word on who will direct it or when filming might start, according to Skydance CEO David Ellison, Tom Cruise still wants to fly back into the danger zone in a TOP GUN sequel. Ellison provided an update on the project during the TERMINATOR: GENISYS press day in Berlin, and he says there is a fantastic role for Cruise's Maverick in the film, which is being written by THE JUNGLE BOOK scribe Justin Marks.
Justin Marks is writing the screenplay right now. He has a phenomenal take to really update that world for what fighter pilots in the Navy has turned into today. There is an amazing role for Maverick in the movie and there is no Top Gun without Maverick, and it is going to be Maverick playing Maverick. It is I don’t think what people are going to expect, and we are very, very hopeful that we get to make the movie very soon. But like all things, it all comes down to the script, and Justin is writing as we speak.
Ellison went on to talk about how different the Navy is now compared to when the first movie opened, and says TOP GUN 2 will likely be released in 3D and IMAX. Last year Jerry Bruckheimer shared the basic plot idea for the sequel, and Ellison also says drones will play a big part in the thirty plus years in the making follow-up.
I think this is a movie that should be in 3-D and in IMAX, and again something that you can shoot practically. As everyone knows with Tom, he is 100% going to want to be in those airplanes shooting it practically. When you look at the world of dogfighting, what’s interesting about it is that it’s not a world that exists to the same degree when the original movie came out. This world has not been explored. It is very much a world we live in today where it’s drone technology and fifth generation fighters are really what the United States Navy is calling the last man-made fighter that we’re actually going to produce so it’s really exploring the end of an era of dogfighting and fighter pilots and what that culture is today are all fun things that we’re gonna get to dive into in this movie.
I'm not against TOP GUN 2, but like many of you, I'm more than a little worried it will turn out like STEALTH. However, I'm not totally convinced that the film will actually happen, and with Tom Cruise's busy schedule, who knows when production could start on the sequel.
Cruise can be seen next battling the Syndicate in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION, which will be in theaters on July 31, 2015.