Miles Teller Says Everybody’s Excited for TOP GUN 3, but Tom Cruise Has Some Racing to Do First
Miles Teller is ready to get back in the cockpit for Top Gun 3, and it sounds like the rest of the cast is just as eager to return. The only problem is that Tom Cruise has a pretty packed schedule, and he might be trading fighter jets for race cars before returning as Maverick.
During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Teller shared an encouraging update on the long-awaited sequel, which Paramount officially confirmed was in development at CinemaCon in April.
“Tom, I think he’s said the next thing he’s doing is he’s going to race some cars, that’s Days of Thunder,” he said. “And then I hope he wants to fly some planes, too, ‘cause we would love to do it.”
Cruise is currently developing Days of Thunder 2, a sequel to his 1990 NASCAR racing drama. The project was officially announced in August, giving the actor another opportunity to revisit one of his earlier hits.
While Teller is hoping Top Gun 3 gets moving sooner rather than later, he also had some great things to say about working with Cruise and how much the actor cares about the people he works with.
“Tom is very gracious and he was the closest thing to a mentor that I think a lot of us ever had in this business, and he’s always available. I’ve had to hang up on Tom because he’s so excited, he really is so invested.”
That's a pretty funny image, Teller having to end a phone call because Cruise is too enthusiastic to stop talking. But it also says a lot about the kind of energy Cruise brings to his movies.
The original Top Gun hit theaters in 1986, with Cruise playing hotshot Navy pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. He finally returned to the role in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick, which became a massive hit, earning more than $1.4 billion worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing movie of Cruise's career. It also scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
Teller played Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late best friend Goose, and his complicated relationship with Maverick gave the sequel much of its emotional weight.
As for where the third movie might take these characters, the filmmakers apparently already have a plan.
Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Christopher McQuarrie previously revealed in May that he and fellow writer Ehren Kruger had the story “already in the bag” for the next installment.
Cruise also confirmed last May that he was “working on” ideas for another Top Gun movie alongside the Days of Thunder sequel.
So, the interest is there, the story is apparently figured out, and the cast wants to return. Now it's a matter of finding room in Cruise's schedule to make it happen.
There's still no official production start date or release date for Top Gun 3, but after the incredible success of Top Gun: Maverick, it's easy to understand why Paramount wants to get those fighter jets back in the air.