Tom Cruise is perhaps best known as the face of the Mission Impossible franchise, but before the exhilarating thrills in the 1990s, there was the action classic Top Gun. Despite lukewarm responses, the show remained popular over the years and managed to gather a cult following of sorts.
When a sequel was announced to be in the works, it came as a pleasant surprise for fans. There wasn’t much information to work with, however, so it slowly got buried under the sea of hectic movie releases.
Until now.
Following a recent surfacing of Top Gun 2 character descriptions online, director Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion) is reportedly starting production early in Summer 2018, instead of the original 2019 release date.
Titled Top Gun: Maverick, the story will see an older Pete “Maverick” Mitchell coaching and training a new generation of pilots as he adapts to the modern US Navy. Goose’s son and a new love interest for Maverick are believed to make new appearances as well.
Apart from Cruise, other casting details have yet to be confirmed, though more announcements should be on the horizon now that the cameras are set to start rolling over the next summer.
With plans for principal photography to run from July till the end of the year, this piece of news seems to match up with past reports on the matter and popular theories on Paramount’s intent for a 2018 production start.
As the latest addition to a string of “legacy sequels” aimed to revive Hollywood titles for modern audiences, it’d be interesting to see how Maverick will fare among the movie-watching community, especially since Cruise’s shine has dimmed over the years.
Jurassic World, for instance, has put up a decent performance at the box office, but others like Terminator: Genisys failed to live up to expectations, so Maverick‘s potential remains to be seen.
But with the right cast and a good story, the sequel to a staple of 80s cinema may just be a refreshing breath of fresh air, and the right step to becoming the one true continuation that fans deserve.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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