Top Gun 3's Fate Officially Sealed by Paramount - MCE Notices | California State Portal

Top Gun 3 is officially in the works. At CinemaCon, Paramount confirmed that a sequel to 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick has entered development. Not only that, but also revealed was that star Tom Cruise will officially return as his series figurehead Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

Cruise is not the only familiar name taking to the skies for the high-flying threequel. Top Gun: Maverick producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Ehren Kruger are also on board. Marverick director Joseph Kosinski has reportedly bowed out for the new film, and a search for a new filmmaker to helm the title has commenced. No official director announcement has been made at this time.

Top Gun 3 Is Officially Happening

Christopher McQuarrie, who co-wrote Top Gun: Maverick with Kruger and also worked on the sequel’s story, also previously teased Top Gun 3‘s “big idea.” He said, “I already know what it is. It wasn’t hard. I thought it would be, and that’s a good place to walk from. You walk into the room, going, ‘Come on, what are we going to do?’ and Ehren Kruger pitched something, and we had one conversation about it. The framework is there, so it’s not hard to crack.”

He continued, “It was about coming up with an idea that — again — felt like a new challenge. Something that opens up the story in a way you just can’t let go. And I think the idea is so ambitious. That’s what’s exciting to me.”

Top Gun 3 Can Level Up Tom Cruise’s Blockbuster Franchise

Image via Paramount Pictures

Top Gun: Maverick was released in 2022, 36 years after the original Top Gun. The long-awaited sequel grossed a staggering $1.5 billion worldwide at the box office on a budget of $170 million, providing movie theaters with a much-needed boost in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was also a critically success, earning a 96% positive “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film saw Cruise reprising his role as the confident and capable pilot code-named “Maverick.” After years away, Top Gun: Maverick saw Peter Mitchell returning to the “Top Gun” training program that molded him, this time as an instructor. However, things get personal when he discovers that one of his students, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), is the son of Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, Mitchell’s friend and radar pilot who died in the first film.

Along with Cruise and Teller, Top Gun: Maverick also starred Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Monica Barbaro, Danny Ramirez, Jay Ellis, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Manny Jacinto as Maverick’s Top Gun students. Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Ed Harris, and Bashir Salahuddin appeared in supporting roles, with original Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer reprising his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. Kilmer in one of his final film performances before his death (though Kilmer is apparently set for more film appearances after his death).

Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick are streaming now on Paramount+.