There are some things that you could have told me as a young child that I would have believed. One of those is that as an adult I would be obsessively waiting for news on a third Top Gun movie. Thankfully, Christopher McQuarrie has me covered.
After the release of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, the world was reminded that the fast paced and emotional world of the Top Gun school of aviation that Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards brought to life back in the 80s. And with a new group of Top Gun aviators, we were all suddenly invested in the idea of continuing the Top Gun legacy. Especially since that cast went from relative nobodies to now some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
But news on a third movie has been sparse. Glen Powell has hinted that it was in the works, Lewis Pullman told us that he’d be interested in it. And even Tom Cruise has told fans to be patient with it. Basically, the cast is down and we know that it is rumored but we have no confirmation one way or another about the film itself. Until now. Thanks, Christopher McQuarrie!
The director of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was speaking with Josh Horowitz when he shared that the film’s plot was “already in the bag,” and that he “already know[s]” what the story is. McQuarrie is working on the script for the film and it is not yet clear whether or not he will direct it (Joseph Kosinski directed Maverick).
Christopher McQuarrie said it “wasn’t hard”
The issue with creating a third film is that you are, basically, trying to capture lightning in a bottle for the third time. The first two Top Gun movies were masterpieces for completely different reasons. Top Gun was a famously homoerotic look at the Navy, a man’s need to be oiled up and playing volleyball in jean shorts, and going really fast in planes. Maverick was about the pain of losing someone, shirtless beach football, and found family.
With a third film, McQuarries told Horowitz that “it wasn’t hard” figuring out the story even though he thought it would be difficult to do so. “I thought it would be, and that’s a good place to go from is you walk into the room going, ‘Come on, what are we going to do?’ And [co-writer] Ehren Kruger pitched something and I went, ‘Mm, actually,’ and we had one conversation about it and the framework is there. So, no, it’s not hard to crack. The truth of the matter is, none of these are hard to crack.”
Okay so does that mean that I get my Bob (Lewis Pullman) and Hangman (Glen Powell) scenes? Is Coyote (Greg Tarzan Davis) going to be back? I need my Phoenix (Monica Barbaro) if we return to Top Gun with Rooster (Miles Teller) and Maverick. All this to say: I really hope we get Top Gun 3 sooner rather than later and I cannot wait to see what McQuarrie has in store for us.
(featured image: Paramount Pictures)
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