Caffeinated Clint
On the Friday before his death, “Top Gun” filmmaker Tony Scott was with actor Tom Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer on a scout to research some of the flying machines for a sequel to his 1986 hit. It was something, as most of us know (having read so many bits and pieces about the tardy follow-up over the years), Scott was pretty passionate about making.
In an interview with Total Film, Tom Cruise says he’s not sure what’s going to happen with “Top Gun 2” – in which he would’ve reprised his role as Lt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell – now that Scott’s gone.
“That was horrible”, Cruise says of Scott’s death. “I love Tony. I mean, what a filmmaker. We were so excited about Top Gun 2. Now we’re just taking a pause, to be honest. It’s something… we’ll see, we’ll see about that…”.
Cruise, it seems, has instead moved on to conceiving a fifth “Mission : Impossible” movie. “We’re already working on different images. Talking conceptually”, says the actor/producer of what would be his fifth stint as Ethan Hunt. “I’ll make a bunch of those [Mission : Impossible movies]. I’ll make as many as people want to see…because they’re very challenging and so much fun to make.”
He’s also got “Van Helsing”, a reboot of the Hugh Jackman monster-slaying flick from a few years ago on his dance-card.
Says Cruise, “We’re figuring [it] out. Do we make a horror comedy, character comedy? What time period?”
The actor suggests “Van Helsing” might share a similar tone to John Landis’s funny but frightening horror classic “An American Werewolf in London”.
“Do you remember the first time you saw that movie? Wasn’t it amazing? And we haven’t had one of those for… Look, I’m not saying Van Helsing will be that, tonally… but I’ll never forget seeing An American Werewolf in London on a Friday night. It was a 7 O’Clock showing in Westwood, and it was like ‘C’mon, this movie’s incredible!’.”
Say what you will about Cruise but he does what makes a good movie. Always equipped with the right resources to entertain that guy.
