Top Gun is the quintessential 1980s movie, while Top Gun: Maverick “saved Hollywood’s ass.” That puts a lot of pressure on Top Gun 3 to live up to those box office heights, but if anyone can do it, it’s Tom Cruise.
Earlier this year, Deadline reported that the untitled Top Gun 3 is “in development,” and that it will reunite Cruise with producers Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. The script is being written by Ehren Kruger, who was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay for Maverick with Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie.
Here’s everything we know about Top Gun 3, including plot details, the returning cast, and whether there’s a release date.
Plot
One of the best things about Top Gun: Maverick is that it had a definitive ending. There’s a cool mission, Maverick rides off into the sunset with the girl of his dreams, and Lady Gaga sings an Oscar-nominated power ballad over the credits. A plus! So, where does Top Gun go from here?
No plot details have been revealed about the third film, but mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer did tell Screen Rant that “we have a story. [Director] Joe Kosinski had a wonderful story idea for it, and he [Tom Cruise] said I really like that, so we’re developing it. But you never know when it’s going to get made because Tom is so busy. He’s doing Mission: Impossible right now, he’s got a picture after it. Hopefully, we’ll get a screenplay that he loves, and we’ll be back in the air again.” (Mission: Impossible 8 is scheduled for May 23, 2025.)
Glen Powell was equally cryptic about Top Gun 3. “There is going to be some fun stuff being announced soon… but it was confidential to me,” he told Variety while promoting Twisters. “I talk to Kosinski, Cruise, and Jerry all the time. There is stuff happening and it sounds very exciting. I don’t know when I’ll be going back… I’m sure there is a jet waiting for me sometime in the future.”
Powell feels the need, the need for more “douchebaggery” advice from Tom.
Cast
Well, Tom Cruise will be back, that’s for sure. Other Top Gun stars who are expected to return include Glen Powell as “Hangman,” Miles Teller as “Rooster,” Jennifer Connelly as Penny, Jon Hamm as “Cyclone,” Charles Parnell as “Warlock,” and Lewis Pullman as my favorite callsign, “Bob.”
“I wish I knew more. I’m not blowing smoke. I wish I knew more. All I know is the Glen Powell narrative,” the Thunderbolts* star (he’s playing another Bob in the MCU) told the Just for Variety podcast. “He’s claiming there is a script. And this has been said since day one, is as long as it’s earned and as long as Tom feels like it continues the story of Maverick in a way that part of the story that needs to be told, then I think it could happen.”
Val Kilmer’s Iceman had the perfect send-off in Top Gun: Maverick, so his arc is complete.
Release Date
It took 36 years for Top Gun to get a sequel. The wait between Top Gun: Maverick and Top Gun 3 (probably?) won’t be that long, but it’s still many years away. Good thing Tom Cruise is ageless.
Trailer
It should be obvious by now that there’s no trailer for Top Gun 3. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: a three-hour loop of the very shirtless beach football scene from Top Gun: Maverick exists. Enjoy!