More than 30 years after Top Gun’s release date, Tom Cruise is once again feeling the need for speed — and finally spilling new details on the smash hit’s forthcoming sequel. The actor, 54, recently opened up to Access Hollywood about the long-awaited flick, even revealing its title.
“It’s not going to be called ‘Top Gun 2,’” he said on Friday, June 2. “It’s going to be called ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’” Cruise then went on to explain the name: “I didn’t want a number. You don’t need a number.”
Cruise, who will reprise his role as the military action-drama’s fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, noted that viewers should expect similarities to the 1986 hit film, which was the highest-grossing movie of its release year. “We’re going to have the same tone that we had from the first,” he said. “Stylistically, it’s going to be the same.”
The original film also starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Meg Ryan and Val Kilmer, though there has been no official word on which cast members will return for the sequel.
Though he stayed mum on specific plot details, the actor told Access Hollywood that he was “very excited” to work on the project, adding: “It’s a great challenge.”
After rumors of the revival had been circulating in recent months, Cruise finally confirmed the news last month. “It’s true,” he told Australian morning show Sunrise May 23. “I’m going to start filming it probably in the next year. It’s happening. It’s definitely happening.”
Watch Cruise open up about the film in the clip above.
