Top Gun: Maverick continues to break records and wow audiences worldwide, and one of those audience members is Jon Cryer, who starred in 1991's Hot Shots!, a parody of the original Top Gun. Hot Shots! follows Charlie Sheen as Topper Harley, an ace Navy fighter pilot who is called back to active duty for one last top-secret mission. Along with Sheen as Harley and Cryer as LT Jim "Wash Out" Pfaffenbach, the movie also starred Cary Elwes as LT Kent Gregory, Valeria Golino as Ramada Thompson, and Lloyd Bridges as RADM Thomas "Tug" Benson.
The movie did get one sequel already in the form of Hot Shots! Part Deux in 1993, though the followup would move away from its Top Gun roots to instead lampoon big-budget action shoot-em-ups like Commando and the Rambo movies. Cryer, however, didn't return for Part Deux. But now that Top Gun: Maverick continues to dominate at the box office, some are suggesting this would be the perfect time for a Hot Shots! threequel, namely Cryer himself.
Apparently having recently seen Maverick, Cryer took to Twitter, hinting that the Top Gun sequel's success could mean it's time to revisit the Hot Shots! franchise. He even floated the idea of reuniting with Sheen - who Cryer would also star alongside on Two and a Half Men - for a hypothetical "Part Tres." Check out his tweet below.
Click here to see the original post on Twitter
While, at least for now, this is likely just wishful thinking on Cryer's part, the Top Gun! movies have developed somewhat of a cult status over the years. With the resounding success of Top Gun: Maverick, now would seem to be the perfect time to revisit the comedy series while the movie that inspired it is back in the zeitgeist. That said, it's difficult to say if Sheen would even be interested in returning for another entry. After well-publicized issues with substance abuse and an infamous feud with showrunner Chuck Lorre got him written off of Two and a Half Men, Sheen has flown largely under the radar. Most of his recent projects have been one-off appearances on various TV shows.
Still, if he were to agree to return for a third Hot Shots! installment, it would likely be a delight to longtime fans of the first two movies. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to Top Gun: Maverick proves that there's an audience for that high-flying franchise, so it stands to reason that an audience might also exist for the slapstick comedy it inspired. Judging by the enthusiastic replies to Cryer's tweet, it seems that he's far from alone in wanting to see more Hot Shots! in the future.