‘Top Gun’ Sequel Announced for 2019
After over 30 years of rumors and unsuccessful production attempts, Paramount Pictures has finally confirmed that a Top Gun sequel is set to premiere on July 12, 2019.
The cast and production team for the sequel is a mix of old fan favorites and new faces to the franchise. Tom Cruise will reprise his role as main character Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and Jerry Bruckheimer will also return as the franchise’s lead producer. Meanwhile, the sequel will be helmed by Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski, who Cruise worked with on the film Oblivion in 2013.
Kosinski coming on the new director reflects the various reasons Paramount has struggled to produce its promised sequel to the 1986 smash hit. The most recent discussions about a sequel occurred around 2010, spearheaded by original Top Gun director Tony Scott. As a result of Scott’s interest, most cast members were eager to join these early sequel plans. However, these discussions abruptly ended following Scott’s death in 2012.
Sequel talks were rekindled in 2014 when it was announced that The Jungle Book writer Justin Marks was developing the film’s screenplay for the studio.
There were no updates on the sequel following the Marks announcement until later this year. During the promotional tour for The Mummy in May, Cruise once again confirmed plans for the Top Gun sequel and stated that filming was to start in 2018. And a few weeks ago, Cruise revealed that the film’s tentative title was Top Gun: Maverick.
For those unfamiliar with the original Top Gun, the official synopsis is as follows:
Tom Cruise stars as Maverick, a talented training pilot in an elite U.S. school for fighter pilots. When he stumbles upon some MiG’s over the Persian Gulf, and his wingman panics, Maverick cleverly talks him through the situation to safety. Consequently, he is moved up in rank and sent to the Top Gun Naval Flying School. There he has several conflicts with other students while trying to live up to his deceased father’s reputation. Unable to cope with the death of his best friend, and fellow pilot, Goose (Anthony Edwards), Maverick contemplates dropping out, but follows through with his dream to become one of the “best of the best.”
According to early sources, the Top Gun sequel will follow an older Maverick who has become a famous flight instructor for the Top Gun Naval Flying School. He will struggle to teach the next generation of young macho pilots at the school, who presumably idolized him in their youths for his daring escapades.
After all these years, Top Gun remains a classic example of great American cinema. With its heavy hitter cast and crew, as well as its incredibly loyal fan base, it’s very likely that the sequel will dazzle audiences and be just as commercially successful as the first film.
Are y’all excited for a Top Gun sequel? Or, considering the extreme effort it has taken to get this far in pre-production alone, do you think Paramount should focus on making other films? Tell us what you think in the comments!
Source: Deadline
