Tom Cruise Teases Start of 'Top Gun 2' Production
Tom Cruise is back in action as he begins filming for the highly-anticipated sequel for "Top Gun" titled "Top Gun: Maverick."
The actor posted a photo on Twitter taken during his first day on the set. It showed his legendary character Pete "Maverick" Mitchell looking directly at a fighter jet with the words "Feel The Need" inscribed over the image. Cruise captioned the post with the words: "#Day1."
Cruise also teased the production of the sequel in an interview with Access Hollywood that was reported by Birth Movies Death in June 2017. He said: "Aviators are back, the need for speed. We're going to have big, fast machines. It's going to be a competition film, like the first one...but a progression for Maverick."
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Variety confirmed that the filming began on Thursday, May 31.
Details about the sequel's plot remain under wraps, but previous reports claimed that Maverick will now serve as a flight instructor. The report also claimed that the new film will center on the emergence of drone technology that made their old dog-fighting style obsolete.
In an interview with ComingSoon back in October, the sequel's producer, Joseph Kosinski, said that they plan to approach the new film with a story that is fitting for the current times.
"The navy is very different now than it was in 1986," Kosinski stated. "It's just a different world now, so you can't remake the first movie. It has to adapt, [but] I certainly want to re-create the experience of that movie, which gives you a front seat into the world of naval aviation and what it's like to be in a fighter jet," he added.
Other reports also mentioned that Maverick will be flying an F-35 Lightning II in the upcoming film.
Kosinski worked with Cruise in the 2013 film "Oblivion." According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is not the first time for the filmmaker to bring back a popular film from the 1980s to the big screen since he also directed "Tron: Legacy" back in 2010.
Aside from Cruise, the sequel will also bring back Val Kilmer in the film. He will reprise his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.
At the moment, there are no words yet if the other original cast will also return to the sequel, including Meg Ryan, Anthony Edwards, Kelly McGillis, Adrian Pasdar, and Clarence Gilyard.
Aside from its box-office success that reached $357 million worldwide, the first "Top Gun" movie that was released in 1986 also earned several accolades from different award-giving bodies like the Best Original Song from the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards for "Take My Breath Away," as well as the Favorite Motion Picture from People's Choice Awards.
Other details about the movie are still unannounced, but Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison are named as the film's producers under Skydance Media and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. The screenplay will be written by Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Ashley Edward Miller, and Zack Stenz.
The sequel, which will be released by Paramount Pictures, will be released in the United States on July 12, 2019.
