Does Top Gun 3’s production feel the need for speed?

Tom Cruise as Pete Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

After decades of waiting for a sequel to Top Gun it was finally made, and it became one of the biggest box office hits ever. It wasn’t exactly a shock when it was announced that development on Top Gun 3 was already underway. One can imagine that Paramount doesn’t want to wait decades for another hit with that franchise. However, while Top Gun 3 may not take quite as long to produce as Top Gun: Maverick, we shouldn’t expect to see it anytime soon.

Jerry Bruckheimer is a very busy producer right now. His films Young Woman and the Sea and Bad Boys: Ride or Die both released in the last few weeks, and another long-awaited sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is set to hit Netflix in a couple of weeks. At some point down the line, there will also be Top Gun 3, but when asked by Deadline for an update Bruckheimer said that as of right now the project is still looking at ideas, so that movie is still in the distant future. He explained…

We’ve got some interesting ideas we’ve talked to Tom Cruise about, but we don’t have a script yet. It will be a while.

Top Gun 3 has a screenwriter. Ehren Kruger, who co-wrote Maverick has been tapped to handle writing the next movie, but he hasn’t done so yet. It sounds like the movie is very much in the “idea” phase as Bruckheimer says they’re talking ideas with Tom Cruise, but the producer doesn’t say they have an idea for Top Gun 3 yet, so it sounds like they’re still trying to figure out what the movie will be before it gets to the point where it can be written.

On the one hand, it’s great that they are actively talking about ideas for the next Top Gun. On the other hand, it should be pointed out that this was the state that Top Gun 2 was in for decades. Tom Cruise always said he was interested in a sequel, and we would occasionally hear that the movie was being worked on, but it took a very long time to find something that Cruise was happy with.

While everybody involved clearly wants to make Top Gun 3, Tom Cruise seems more than willing to simply not do so rather than make something he’s not happy with. And considering the massive box office success of Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise clearly knows what he’s doing.

Clearly, everybody wants to make Top Gun 3. Even Jennifer Connelly is ready to return. But everybody also knows a lot is riding on another movie, so they’re going to take their time with it. Fans may have to wait a while to see Maverick again but they waited decades before, and it was worth it.