After 35 years, fans of the classic 1986 film Top Gun were sent sky-high when it was announced a sequel to the beloved jet-based Tom Cruise blockbuster was on its way.
Titled Top Gun: Maverick after Cruise's character, it sees the 59-year-old reprise his role as Captain Pete Mitchell, alongside Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.
With this being a Cruise film, there is of course a love interest. Jennifer Lynn Connelly fulfils the role as Penny Benjamin - "A single mother, bar owner, and daughter of a former admiral."
Read more: When is the animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid released?
The project began development 11 years ago in 2010, with filming only beginning eight years after.
Why has Top Gun: Maverick been delayed?
Paramount had originally planned for the film to be released in July 2019, but that was knocked back to July 2020 to allow for the complex flight sequences to be filmed without rushing.
By then, the Covid-19 pandemic had brought most production to a standstill, so, it was pushed back to April then November 2021.
However, once again film studios are delaying the release of their biggest titles until 2022, in the hope that by then, cinemagoers will return en masse.
Top Gun: Maverick will now be released May 27, 2022 but don't be surprised if that date changes.
Netflix and Apple TV+ were both watching the situation unfold and tried to buy the distribution rights to the film, but Paramount refused.
Studios have become anxious about the recent surge in US cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant, in the knowledge that a movie's initial release period is crucial to its box office success.
Paramount is betting on 2022 being a good year for cinema attendances returning to pre-Covid levels.
