Tom Cruise Back In The Danger Zone: Bruckheimer Confirms Cruise Will Be Back For ‘Top Gun 2’

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently spoke about his upcoming projects at a film festival that started on April 1, which showcased his movies. Entitled “The Heat Is On: A Jerry Bruckheimer Film Festival,” Bruckheimer stated that he just finished the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Carribean films, and he is looking to work on other projects, including sequels to Bad Boys and Top Gun.

Rumors about a Top Gun sequel have been around for a long time, but one question that fans have had is whether Tom Cruise will be back to reprise his role as Maverick Mitchell. Back in January, Jerry Bruckheimer posted a Twitter picture that further fueled the rumors of Tom Cruise coming back to play one of his most iconic roles.

Just got back from a weekend in New Orleans to see my old friend @TomCruise and discuss a little Top Gun 2. pic.twitter.com/vA2xK7S7JS

— JERRY BRUCKHEIMER (@BRUCKHEIMERJB) January 26, 2016

According to New York Daily News, Bruckheimer confirmed that Cruise will be back for Top Gun 2.

“Yeah, of course! You don’t make Top Gun without Tom Cruise!”

Top Gun was released in 1986. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott, the film tells the story of Naval aviator, Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, as he is provided the chance to be a trainee at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School in San Diego and fights to be the best in class. The film was made with a budget of $15 million and took home $356.9 million in the box office.

At the film festival, Jerry Bruckheimer talked about wanting to get Tom Cruise as the lead character for the first Top Gun movie, and no one else, reported Vulture.

“We didn’t look at any other actors to play the lead. It was always Tom Cruise. He was the one we wanted, and we chased him. He delayed it and delayed it. I even arranged for the Blue Angels to fly over where he was staying to get him to say yes.”

Back in 2015, while Tom Cruise was being interviewed for his movie Mission:Impossible – Rogue Nation, the topic touched on Top Gun and Cruise stated that he would be interested in playing Maverick again in Top Gun 2, but he had one condition.

“I’d like to fly those jets again, but we got to do all the jets practical, no CGI on the jets… I’m saying right now no CGI on the jets. If we can figure all that out, and the Department of Defense will allow us to do it, that would be fun.”

Another actor who was in Top Gun was Val Kilmer, and last year, the actor made an announcement on his Facebook page about being offered a role in the Top Gun sequel. Kilmer, however, later retracted his statement, saying that his announcement was premature and that “being offered a role is very different from doing a role,” reported Variety.

“I jumped the gun with my post. I jumped the topgun… An innocent mistake. It was just such a wonderful phone call with my agent.”

As of writing, there is no word on whether Val Kilmer will be joining the cast of Top Gun2.

Sources say that Top Gun 2 has been in the works for years, and Bruckheimer had been talking to the late director Tony Scott about the project before his suicide in 2012. Bruckheimer continued to work on Top Gun 2 and it seems that he is finally making progress.

The focus of the sequel to Top Gun has not yet been revealed, but one of the producers, David Ellison, said last year that the next movie will involve “drone technology and fifth generation fighters.”

Are you excited for the Top Gun 2 sequel? Share your thoughts below.

[Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP]