Caffeinated Clint
Even with Tony Scott now – sadly (nobody gave widescreen such love) – permanently aboard the aircraft carrier in the clouds, Tom Cruise is said to be still quite keen on making the “Top Gun” sequel he and the filmmaker planned to do (and were feverishly developing at the time of Scott’s death). Producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed the news at today’s ‘Produced By’ conference in Los Angeles, saying Cruise’s enthusiasm for reprising ‘Maverick’ hasn’t waned.
Bruckheimer, who with Don Simpson produced the 1986 original, said Cruise has mentioned that wherever he goes in the world, people still recognize him for the ‘Top Gun’ role. As such, the box-office superstar still considers the sequel a priority.
“For 30 years we’ve been trying to make a sequel and we’re not going to stop. We still want to do it with Tom [Cruise] and Paramount are still interested in making it. As long as he keeps his enthusiasm,” Bruckheimer said, “hopefully we can get it made.”
Cruise had intended to make “Top Gun 2” with Bruckheimer (and fellow producer David Ellison, the young gun who also financed the last couple of “Mission : Impossible” movies) before fulfilling a commitment to do a fifth “Mission : Impossible”. But with Scott’s untimely death, those plans were obviously hindered; Cruise is now prepping to reprise Ethan Hunt instead of climbing back into the cockpit. Hopefully, that’ll happen in the new year sometime.
Though it’ll obviously have a new director at the reigns (Christopher McQuarrie, perhaps?), the storyline for “Top Gun 2” is said to involve ‘old school’ instructor Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Cruise) adapting to the new times of air defense – in particular, the resurgence of the ‘drone’.
