00:00Entering point alpha. Confirm green range.
00:03Maverick range control.
00:05Get your oversized aviators ready. We're officially heading back for Top Gun 3.
00:09Recently at CinemaCon, Paramount confirmed that Tom Cruise is returning as Pete Maverick
00:14Mitchell for the third film. He might be 63 now, but it's not exactly shocking.
00:20The Top Gun movies have always been built around Cruise as the main attraction,
00:24especially Maverick, which really leans into his style. Practical stunts over CGI,
00:28a bit of older age nostalgia, and that classic 90s Hollywood vibe that you don't really see much
00:34anymore. Top Gun Maverick turned into a massive blockbuster at a time when a lot of theaters were
00:39still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie went on to make around $1.5 billion
00:45worldwide from a $170 million budget, and it basically gave cinemas a huge boost when the
00:51industry really needed it most. While fans are still waiting on solid updates for Top Gun 3,
00:57one of the Maverick stars has shared a bit of insight into the delay.
01:01Jay Ellis, who plays Ruben Payback Fitch in the sequel, gave a pretty straightforward
01:05explanation for why things are taking time. He said they're still diligently working on the script,
01:11and the main focus is making sure the story is really right before moving forward.
01:16From his comments, it sounds like there's no rush on this one. He also pointed out that Top Gun
01:21Maverick took a long time for a reason, since Tom Cruise wanted everything done properly,
01:27especially the real jet filming and pushing practical filmmaking instead of heavy CGI.
01:32Here's what Ellis said,
01:34They're diligently working on the script and wanting to get it right. Tom was very discerning.
01:39It took a while to make Top Gun Maverick for a reason. He wanted it to be right. He wanted
01:43to
01:43push film forward. He wanted to be able to film in the jets. So I think when we look at
01:48whatever the
01:48next iteration of this franchise is, it's gonna be that. Tom's gonna take his time. He's gonna get
01:54it right. Jerry is gonna be there. Joe Kaczynski is back as well producing. I think it's a very
01:59creative group of folks who want to make sure the story is right and want to make sure the audience
02:03is wildly satisfied. Glenn Powell had already said there's basically a date set for filming Top Gun 3,
02:09and with his career blowing up even more, after leading films like Edgar Wright's The Running Man
02:14and the legacy sequel Twisters, it feels pretty likely he'll be back flying alongside Tom Cruise.
02:20That said, Cruise still seems like he'll remain the main focus of the next movie.
02:24In an interview we did with Maverick director Joseph Kaczynski, who also directed last year's
02:29racing film F1, basically like Top Gun Maverick but with Brad Pitt and Formula One cars,
02:35he hinted that there's still more story left for Maverick himself.
02:38There's still more story to tell for him, he said, when asked if Cruise would stay central to Top Gun
02:433.
02:43He also suggested the next film might be a bit more grounded and introspective,
02:48focusing on Maverick dealing with an existential crisis.
02:51There's one last ride, so we're working on it now. Aaron Kruger, who wrote F1, is writing the script.
02:57Like all things, it takes a while to work things out, and we'll only do it if we feel like
03:01we've
03:02got a strong enough story. Aaron Kruger also worked on Maverick with Eric Warren Singer and
03:07Christopher McQuarrie, both of whom are reportedly involved again. With the CinemaCon announcement,
03:12it sounds like the script is at least in a solid enough place for them to officially move forward.
03:17At the very least, they're clearly confident in the story direction.
03:21What's more interesting right now is who wasn't confirmed. Tom Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer
03:26are definitely on board for Top Gun 3, but there was no official mention of Joseph Kaczynski returning
03:32as director, or any confirmation about returning cast members like Glenn Powell or Miles Teller.
03:38Realistically, it would be surprising to see the core creative team split up after a $1.5 billion
03:43hit, but Hollywood can be unpredictable. Most likely, though, it's just still early in development,
03:49and they're not ready to lock in or announce those details yet.
03:54For now, Paramount hasn't really given Top Gun 3 a runway to take off from. They didn't announce a
03:59release date or even a rough window. That pretty much suggests we're still at least a couple of years
04:04away, and that might even be a conservative guess. Still, there's no real urgency to rush it out.
04:10You probably don't want an Avatar-style gap of 15 years between films, but Maverick was such a
04:16massive crowd-pleaser that the next one will likely do well whenever it arrives. In a way,
04:21the wait might even work in its favor. Sometimes a little distance just builds more anticipation.
04:26With Maverick expected to stay at the center of the next Top Gun, the whole shoot will likely
04:31depend a lot on Tom Cruise's schedule, and right now he's been pretty busy. At CinemaCon,
04:36they also showed footage from what might be his next big awards-focused project,
04:40Digger. It's described as a Dr. Strangelove-style satire where Cruise plays a wealthy, overweight,
04:47balding billionaire who accidentally triggers an environmental disaster. On top of that,
04:52he's got a few other projects floating around. One is The Gauntlet, reportedly a gritty mob film from
04:57Mission Impossible Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie, though updates on that have been
05:02pretty quiet lately. There was also a lot of talk about a SpaceX project that would have literally
05:07sent Cruise into space, but reports suggest it may have been quietly scrapped earlier this year.
05:12Anyways, getting back on track, there have actually been theories floating around for a long time that
05:17Maverick might die in the sequel. Even before Top Gun Maverick came out, a lot of fans expected that
05:24would be his fate. One of the biggest reasons was the trailers, which included scenes of a military
05:29funeral. People assumed it was Maverick's and that the sequel would end with his death. Of course,
05:34the movie turned that idea on its head. The funeral turned out to be for Iceman, who dies during the
05:39events of Maverick instead. Some fans even thought Maverick might die early in the sequel right after
05:45introducing the new generation of pilots, which would have followed a pretty common legacy sequel
05:50formula. Since Maverick is now out, and that theory didn't happen, it was basically put to rest for a
05:56while. But with Top Gun 3 now in development, the speculation is creeping back again, with fans wondering
06:02if the third film could finally go that route and potentially pass the torch to the newer characters.
06:09Interestingly, the latest Top Gun 3 updates actually add fuel to the idea that Maverick could die.
06:14Director Joseph Kaczynski has talked about how the third movie will be Tom Cruise's final outing as
06:20the character, calling it his one last ride. That already suggests Maverick's story is wrapping up
06:25one way or another, whether that's retirement or something more permanent. Kaczynski also hinted
06:31that Maverick will be dealing with a much bigger, more personal existential crisis this time around,
06:36which has fans guessing the stakes could be higher than ever. While he's keeping things vague,
06:41some people see this as another sign pointing toward a possible tragic ending.
06:45I personally don't think Maverick should die in Top Gun 3 either, it doesn't really feel like the
06:50right ending for his story. He's already been surrounded by loss, from Goose in the original
06:55film to Iceman in Maverick. Adding his own death on top of that would make the whole arc feel overly
07:00bleak, especially for a franchise that's always balanced high-stakes action with a more uplifting,
07:06crowd-pleasing tone. If he did die in combat, it would also make a lot of heavier morals.
07:11I think it's possible, if you think the wrong way of making all the things happen.
07:12I don't know.
07:12I think I can think it's hard to do.
07:12You
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