Top Gun sequel to feature Tom Cruise versus drones storyline

The long-mooted sequel to 80s blockbuster Top Gun will explore the culture clash between old school aviation and the new generation of unmanned drones, according to the film’s producer.

David Ellison of production company Skydance also confirmed the follow-up will feature Tom Cruise reprising his role as star fighter pilot Maverick during a junket to promote Terminator: Genisys in Berlin.

“Justin Marks is writing the screenplay right now,” Ellison told Collider. “He has a phenomenal take to really update that world for what fighter pilots in the Navy has turned into today. There is an amazing role for Maverick in the movie and there is no Top Gun without Maverick, and it is going to be Maverick playing Maverick. It is I don’t think what people are going to expect, and we are very, very hopeful that we get to make the movie very soon. But like all things, it all comes down to the script.”

Ellison added: “I think this is a movie that should be in 3D and in Imax, and again something that you can shoot practically. As everyone knows with Tom, he is 100% going to want to be in those airplanes, shooting it practically.

“When you look at the world of dogfighting, what’s interesting about it is that it’s not a world that exists to the same degree when the original movie came out. This world has not been explored. It is very much a world we live in today; where it’s drone technology and fifth generation fighters are really what the United States Navy is calling the last man-made fighter that we’re actually going to produce. So really exploring the end of an era of dogfighting and fighter pilots, and what that culture is today, are all fun things that we’re gonna get to dive into in this movie.”

News of a Top Gun sequel first emerged five years ago, when original director Tony Scott – since sadly deceased – was on board to return. Scott said at the time he had not planned to return to the world of Maverick, Goose and Ice Man, but had been inspired by a meeting with a young air force pilot who worked with unmanned drones. “It’s a whole different world now,” he told Hitfix. “These computer geeks – these kids play war games in a trailer in Fallon, Nevada and if we ever went to war or were in the Middle East or the Far East or wherever it is, these guys can actually fly drones. They are unmanned aircraft. They operate them and then they party all night.”

Cruise confirmed his enduring interest last year, telling Sky News: “If we can get over some stumbling blocks it will be fun to do.”