Top Gun Producer Offers Disappointing Update on Third Movie

There were 36 years between the release of Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick, and while fans won’t have to wait that long for a third installment, the movie isn’t expected any time soon. Top Gun: Maverick was the second-most successful movie of 2022, and it was revealed earlier this year a third installment is in the works with franchise star, Tom Cruise. Since the movie’s announcement, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has offered some updates about the project. In his latest chat with Games Radar at the Young Woman and the Sea premiere, Bruckheimer revealed the threequel is still in the early stages. 

“We had preliminary stuff,” Bruckheimer said when asked if he’s had conversations with Cruise. “We’re not there yet. [There’s] ways to go.” 

“It will be Tom Cruise,” Bruckheimer assured Screen Rant in March when asked about Top Gun 3. “Tom is amazing. We spent time with him. We have a story. [Director] Joe Kosinski had a wonderful story idea for it, and he [Cruise] said ‘I really like that’ so we’re developing it. But you never know when it’s going to get made because Tom is so busy. He’s doing Mission: Impossible right now, he’s got a picture after it. Hopefully, we’ll get a screenplay that he loves, and we’ll be back in the air again.”

Why Did Top Gun: Maverick Succeed?

Bruckheimer previously spoke with Entertainment Weekly about why Top Gun: Maverick crushed the box office and he made some Marvel comparisons. 

“I think audiences have been seeing so much CGI, which is wonderful, I go see the same movies, but it’s also nice to see the real deal and to be part of a camaraderie of characters that get up in the sky and have to be as good as they can be,” Bruckheimer explained. “The audiences love the Marvel, they love the DC stuff. They’re beautifully made by really talented people. Sometimes you want to see something that’s real, and that’s what Top Gun gave us… These aviators are out there protecting our country right now, flying around the world, and you’re taking a ride with them. You’re seeing what they do, you’re seeing what their life is like, and the trials and tribulations that they have to go through. You’re actually experiencing it with our actors.”

Stay tuned for more updates about Top Gun 3.