The front-runner to direct Top Gun 2 has been revealed. Tom Cruise is no stranger to making sequels to already-beloved films either, with the actor currently filming/attached to multiple sequels at this very moment. But even despite the original's beloved and iconic status, the actor has yet to reprise his role as Maverick in the Top Gun franchise since the film's original release back in 1986. It's not that Cruise or the studio have avoided the possibility of it either, with the Top Gun sequel being mentioned and played around with multiple times over the past few years.
Back in 2015, it looked like the story and team had finally been set for Top Gun 2, before talks eventually faded away into the background again, with Cruise and co. providing minimal updates on the status of the sequel only a handful of times since. That is, until yesterday at least, when Cruise confirmed once and for all, that Top Gun 2 is indeed happening.
Following Cruise's comments yesterday as well, Variety is reporting that TRON: Legacy director, Joseph Kosinski, is currently the front-runner to direct the highly-anticipated sequel. While no official deal has been made, the report states that insiders believe Skydance and Paramount will make an offer to Kosinski sometime very soon, following the studio's positive response to his pitch for the sequel. Cruise had previously met with producers on the project prior to beginning production on Mission: Impossible 6, in the hopes of lining everything up for the sequel so that they can begin filming on it immediately after Cruise finishes his work on the new Mission: Impossible.
The Top Gun sequel will feature the same main characters as the original movie did, albeit in the modern day - when the increasingly large presence and use of drone technology is on the verge of bringing an end to the fighter pilots and dogfights that made the original film so exhilarating to watch. Cruise will be returning alongside fellow original Top Gun star Val Kilmer as Iceman, in a story that reportedly finds the veteran fighters working to try and prove why fighter pilots are still needed in the world today.
If Kosinski does land the job, then he will be taking over for the late great Tony Scott, who helmed the original Top Gun, and whose death in 2012 many thought would have brought an end to any possibility of a sequel happening. But Kosinski makes sense for the project, thanks to both his visual talents as a director and the fact that he and Cruise have been considering reuniting for quite some time now, following their work together on the 2013 sci-fi flick, Oblivion. His next film, Granite Mountain, starring Jennifer Connelly and Josh Brolin, is currently set to hit theaters this October.
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Top Gun 2 is currently in development and does not have a release date.
Source: Variety