Following Top Gun: Maverick’s successful theatrical run in 2022, one of the movie’s stars has shared an update on where things stand with Top Gun 3 taking flight.
Jay Ellis starred in the sequel as Lieutenant Reuben “Payback” Fitch, one of the Top Gun graduates trained by Tom Cruise’s Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Since then, he has been seen in movies and TV shows like Freaky Tales, Running Point, Not Suitable for Work, and Chad Powers, the latter of which re-teamed him with his Top Gun: Maverick co-star Glen Powell. However, Ellis sounds optimistic that he’ll get the opportunity to reprise Payback.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actor said that he “will happily fit the next Top Gun” into his schedule, and that “baby steps” are being made with the threequel’s script. He continued:
We’re making baby steps, I would say. There is a script, I think it’s been announced that there is a script. Paramount’s very excited about it, Tom’s very excited about it, Bruckheimer’s very excited about it. That whole crew, to work with somebody like Tom, Jerry, McQuarie, and then Joe Kosinski, what a creative powerhouse. They’ve seen so much, they’ve done so much. And I think the gold standard is, ‘How do we push this film past what the last one was?’ And I think that’s why you see Tom take such a long break between making the original ‘Top Gun’ and making ‘Maverick’ is he wanted to make sure we were pushing the medium forward, and with this next one, we hope to do the same whenever they’re ready to do it.
Though talk of making Top Gun 3 began shortly after Top Gun: Maverick’s release, it didn’t officially enter development at Paramount Pictures until January 2024. Two and a half years later, that process remains ongoing, with Ellis’ comments following producer Jerry Bruckheimer saying in February that the Top Gun 3 script was expected to be finished soon. Whenever it’s completed and a filming start date is set, Ellis will be ready to sit back in the cockpit.
Paramount moving forward with Top Gun 3 isn’t surprising considering how well its predecessor performed. Along with the critical praise it received, including ScreenRant’s Top Gun: Maverick review rating it eight out of 10 stars, the sequel soared at the box office, making over $1.5 billion worldwide. It was the second highest-grossing movie of 2022, trailing only behind Avatar: The Way of Water. Maverick also won the Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated in five other categories, including Best Picture.
Whenever Top Gun 3 does get off the ground, it will likely be with another director at the helm. Joseph Kosinski, who directed Top Gun: Maverick, is keeping busy in the coming years with an untitled UFO thriller set up at Apple, as well as the new Miami Vice movie. As such, Paramount is reportedly looking at other candidates for Top Gun 3.
The original Top Gun was released in 1986 and directed by Tony Scott. Cruise, then best known for The Outsiders and Risky Business, was joined by Val Kilmer (who had a minor role in Maverick), Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerrit, and Michael Ironside, among others. Though Top Gun earned a mixed critical reception compared to what the follow-up received, it made over $360 million worldwide and was nominated for four Academy Awards, with “Take My Breath Away” winning Best Original Song.
In addition to returning for Running Point season 3, Ellis will also keep busy as Top Gun 3 continues development by starring in The Rookie: North, which received a series order from ABC last month and will premiere sometime in 2027. Meanwhile, Cruise can next be seen in the Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed Warner Bros. Pictures movie Digger!, which arrives in theaters on October 2.
- Release Date
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May 27, 2022
- Runtime
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131 minutes
- Director
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Joseph Kosinski
- Writers
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Christopher McQuarrie, Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Peter Craig, Justin Marks
- Producers
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Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise