Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise says there won’t be another movie like it. First developed in 2010, the long-awaited followup will see Cruise returning to the role he made famous in the 1986 film. Val Kilmer is also back as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, with the occasionally contentious relationship between Maverick and Iceman factoring into the plot of the sequel. The cast of Top Gun 2 also features newcomers like Miles Teller, Glen Powell, and Manny Jacinto.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, with credit for the screenplay shared between Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, Top Gun: Maverick will pick up with Pete “Maverick” Mitchell having 30 years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators under his belt. Pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot, in favor of career advancement that would ground him, Maverick finds himself training a group of Top Gun graduates for a highly uncommon specialized mission. He soon encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw. Portrayed by Teller, Bradshaw is the son of Maverick’s late best friend who was nicknamed “Goose.” This draws Maverick into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that requires the ultimate sacrifice.
Through featurettes, Cruise and the rest of the sequel’s cast have been seen inside the cockpit of several planes performing aerial aerobics. In the new issue of Empire, Cruise and megaproducer Jerry Bruckheimer discuss the creative process that went into making Top Gun 2. Cruise also shed some light on his refusal to rely on CGI and why he believes there may not ever be aerial sequence shots like the ones seen in the upcoming sequel.
Cruise explained that, while discussing the film with Bruckheimer, he realized there were things that could be accomplished cinematically. To anyone familiar with Cruise’s predilection for doing his own stunts, his next comments should come as no surprise. “I’ll do it,” he told Bruckheimer. “…Meaning, I’m not going to do the CGI stuff.” Cruise made his desires for realism clear to Paramount, which is the studio behind Top Gun 2, before filming kicked off. “You don’t know how hard this movie’s going to be. No one’s ever done this before.” The actor said. “There’s never been an aerial sequence shot this way. I don’t know if there ever will be again, to be honest.”
If the sequel hits theaters on June 24 as planned, without delays related to the coronavirus, fans will know what to keep an eye out for. Cruise’s comments represent not only his commitment to the movie, evidenced by the fact that he paid for the pilot training of Powell, but also the enjoyment he gets from doing his own work. This enjoyment has sometimes led to risky situations, such as when he was injured while shooting the sixth installment of Mission: Impossible, but Cruise clearly believes in sticking to realistic visuals whenever possible. Hopefully, audiences won’t end up waiting too long to see the aerial sequences teased in Top Gun: Maverick.
Source: Empire
