‘Top Gun 2’ Is Happening: Tom Cruise Confirms Filming To Start Soon

Tom Cruise is heading back to the danger zone as the film star announced that he has plans to begin filming a sequel to the classic 1986 film Top Gun with the new film Top Gun 2.

Tom broke the news on the Australian morning show Sunrise by responding to rumors that he was prepared to film Top Gun 2 with “It’s true.” As the morning show hosts gasped in delight, Cruise went on to say he would start filming it “within the next year” and that it is “definitely happening” with a grin on his face.

The Top Gun 2 news confirms years of speculation, which had only ramped up recently. In January of 2016, Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted a photo of himself with Cruise where he said the two had met up “to discuss a little Top Gun 2.” Fans had also speculated that a sequel would be announced with the original film’s 30th birthday coming up.

Just got back from a weekend in New Orleans to see my old friend @TomCruise and discuss a little Top Gun 2. pic.twitter.com/vA2xK7S7JS

— JERRY BRUCKHEIMER (@BRUCKHEIMERJB) January 26, 2016

There is no explicit confirmation that Bruckheimer or any of the other Top Gun stars such as Val Kilmer or Kelly McGillis would return, though Kilmer did indicate on Reddit that he would love to be part of a new Top Gun 2 film. For now, fans across the internet are ecstatic with Tom Cruise’s simple announcement.

An Updated Film

The original Top Gun 2 had Cruise star as Maverick, a reckless, daring, and cool pilot. But it is hard to imagine a sequel showing the 54-year old Cruise as that same pilot in Top Gun 2, especially as he ends the film as a pilot instructor. Just like the current Star Wars films has an older Luke and Leia acting as mentors for the new generation of Rey and Finn, it is possible that the new Top Gun 2 film may play upon those same themes.

But for now, speculation is rife on Twitter about what the new film would look like, complete with jokes on current events. Some common ideas, as the Huffington Post notes, relate to the growing importance of drones as well as the idea that perhaps Maverick could take on United Airlines or get the F-35 back on schedule.

There will be no concrete details about the Top Gun 2 film for some time, but what is clear is that people are universally excited and do not just view this as some cash in. Even the U.S. Department of Defense joined in on the celebrations by tweeting that they were ready for the new film.

Cruise-ing along

As for Tom Cruise, he was on Sunrise to promote his upcoming film, The Mummy, a reboot of the famous 90s and early 2000s franchise where Cruise will battle an ancient evil that has slumbered for thousands of years. This will be the first film of a new movie franchise dubbed the “Dark Universe,” which in essence would hopefully become for monster movies what the Marvel franchise is for comic book movies.

The film premiered in Australia on Monday and will be released worldwide on June 9. The Mummy actually marks the first time that Cruise and Russell Crowe, who was born in New Zealand, have worked together.

It has been over 30 years since the first Top Gun, but Cruise is still just as big of a name as ever, especially in an age when fewer people are drawn to films by the presence of one movie star, so Top Gun 2 is sure to be a hit. His other upcoming films besides The Mummy include American Made, a film where Cruise stars as a pilot stuck between drug cartels and the CIA, as well as the sixth Mission: Impossible film. The fact that franchises like Mission: Impossible and Top Gun have such loyal fan bases after all these years to Cruise’s acting ability.

[Featured image by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images]