For years, there were rumors that Tom Cruise wanted to revisit his 1986 breakout hit Top Gun, but nothing ever really stuck. That finally changed when TRON: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski stepped in to lead Top Gun: Maverick. Even then, the film hit a few bumps along the way—most notably delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic that pushed back both production and release. In the end, though, the wait paid off. Nearly four decades after the original, Top Gun: Maverick landed in 2022 and became one of the year’s biggest box office hits.
Tom Cruise Returning for Top Gun 3
Now it looks like Cruise isn’t slowing down anytime soon. During Paramount’s CinemaCon panel, it was officially announced—via Variety—that Top Gun 3 is moving forward. Cruise is set to return, along with longtime producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Ehren Kruger, who co-wrote Maverick, had already been attached to write the third installment back in 2024, though at the time, the project wasn’t guaranteed to happen. Still, given Bruckheimer’s history of developing major franchises, it always felt like Top Gun continuing was more a matter of when than if.
Maverick didn’t just bring Cruise back—it also introduced a new generation of talent, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Monica Barbaro. That mix of legacy characters and fresh faces gave the film room to evolve, and it set up a clear path for future installments to potentially shift focus. Even so, Cruise’s continued involvement signals that Maverick himself isn’t stepping aside just yet.
Search is On for the Next Director
As for who will direct the next chapter, that’s still up in the air. Kosinski may be busy following his success with the Oscar-nominated F1, so there’s a chance Bruckheimer could hand the reins to another filmmaker with a bold vision.
Of course, Top Gun isn’t the only franchise where Cruise has flirted with passing the torch. The Mission: Impossible series has long hinted at that possibility, especially with the addition of actors like Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Ferguson in films like Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation. But as those movies kept delivering at the box office, Cruise stayed front and center. Renner eventually exited after Rogue Nation, and Ferguson’s character Ilsa met her end in Dead Reckoning.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was positioned as a sendoff, potentially freeing up director Christopher McQuarrie. If he were to reunite with Cruise for Top Gun 3, it would instantly feel like a winning combination before cameras even start rolling.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. High Wire Media Network operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
 |  |  |
