Update!

Everything We Know About Top Gun: Maverick Starring Tom Cruise

As we get closer to the June 2020 premiere of Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick, we're slowly but surely learning more details about the epic sequel. Read on for more!

By Mike Vulpo Dec 16, 2019 1:50 PMTags
Top Gun Maverick, Tom CruiseParamount Pictures/Skydance Media

After all of these years, there's still a huge need for speed.

More than three decades after the release of the blockbuster smash Top Gun, moviegoers can look forward to a brand-new sequel Top Gun: Maverick. And while the star himself Tom Cruise confirmed the news, fans are receiving more and more teases of the project. Jon Hamm, Ed Harris and Lewis Pullman are set to join the cast that also includes Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly and Glen Powell.

So how has all the action unfolded since the project was first announced in 2017?

"We're going to have the same tone as we had in the first movie. Stylistically, it's going to be the same. We're going to have the same score," Cruise previously shared with Access Hollywood. "We're going to have big fast machines. It's going to be a competition film like the first one." 

Meanwhile, Hamm told Collider that the film uses "incredibly hi-def" technology, adding, "The aerial footage is mind-blowing." 

photos
61 Fascinating Facts About Tom Cruise

"It's a very strange experience but it's been a wonderful experience as well," he continued. "It's basically getting the whole team back together. Unfortunately, [original director] Tony Scott is unavailable, but they've achieved a very similar vibe to the first one. I think it's gonna be, for the people who love the first movie I think it's gonna be very interesting to watch. It very much takes the story in a different direction. But I think for the new fans it's gonna be something very cool, too. I've seen some of the footage, it is out of this world."

Come May 2017, Cruise surprised fans on Australia's Sunrise that the film is happening with filming starting "probably in the next year." In May 2018, the actor shared the first photo from the upcoming movie on Twitter titled "#Day1."

Watch: Tom Cruise Sums Up "Top Gun 2's" Premise How?!

And, this summer, the superstar surprised fans at San Diego Comic-Con, where he introduced the very first teaser trailer for the Paramount flick. During that time, he continued to tease the film while sitting down with Conan O'Brien for Conan. The A-lister recalled flying in the F-14 for the original film and explained how he wanted actors who could handle that G-force for the new movie. 

"Part of making this film is I wanted to really be able to shoot it practical, working with the Navy," he said. "I mean, incredible pilots—the greatest fighter pilots in the world. We had to figure out how we were going to get the cameras in there. We hired incredible actors—great cast, brilliant—but they also had to be able to fly in the airplane. So, we had to train them and then test to see can they sustain this kind of G's because some people can't fly this way."

Not only did he have to "train" the actors on how to be fighter pilots, but he also said he had to teach the fighter pilots about cinematography. He said he wanted the members in the audience to have that fighter pilot experience, too.  "The aerial footage is really beautiful," he added. "I'm a pilot myself. I love flying, and I love aviation. So, this is also just a love letter to aviation."

But the real question on Conan's mind was whether the movie was going to reprise Kenny Loggins' song "Danger Zone."

"I can tell you about the story and what's happening," Cruise quipped. "But then I would have to kill you."

Now, ahead of the holidays, fans were gifted with the best treat yet: a new trailer. The nearly three minute clip features jet engines roaring, heart-pounding flips and high-speed chases. And this time around, Cruise is the teacher.

"Your instructor is one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced," the voiceover says. "His exploits are legendary. What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death."

Needless to say, we're in for one wild ride, so buckle up.

Top Gun: Maverick lands in theaters June 2020.

(This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 2:33 p.m. PST)

Here's a new poll!