Introduction

Top Gun: Maverick is an upcoming American action drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie and a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks.

Originally due to be released on 12 July 2019, it released on 27 May 2022 (almost three years later).

It is the sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun.

The film stars Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer. Cruise and Kilmer reprise their roles from the first film.

Outline

After more than thirty years of service as one of the US Navy’s top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.

When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster”, the son of Maverick’s late best friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lieutenant Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose”. Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.

Cast

• Tom Cruise as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a test pilot and flight instructor.
• Miles Teller as Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, a pilot trainee, and the son of Maverick’s late RIO and best friend, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw.
• Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin, Maverick’s new love interest, who is a single mother, bar owner, and the daughter of a former admiral.
• Jon Hamm as Vice Admiral Cyclone.
• Glen Powell as “Hangman”, a pilot trainee.
• Lewis Pullman as Bob, a pilot trainee.
• Ed Harris as Rear Admiral, Maverick’s superior.
• Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, a fellow instructor and friend/former rival of Maverick. He is a four-star admiral and currently serves as Chief of Naval Operations.
• Monica Barbaro as “Phoenix”, pilot trainee.
• Charles Parnell as Rear Admiral Warlock.
• Danny Ramirez as “Fanboy”, Payback’s WSO.
• Manny Jacinto as Fritz.
• Bashir Salahuddin as Coleman.
• Jay Ellis as Payback.
• Jake Picking.
• Raymond Lee.
• Lyliana Wray as Amelia Benjamin, Penny’s daughter.
• Jean Louisa Kelly as Carole Bradshaw, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw’s widow and mother of Rooster.
  • Meg Ryan previously portrayed her in the first film.
• Greg Tarzan Davis as Coyote.
• Bob Stephenson as United States Air Force General Edward Clayton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Chelsea Harris as Flag Aide Angela Burke.

Production

Development

Development of the film began in 2010 when Paramount Pictures made offers to Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott to make a sequel to Top Gun. Christopher McQuarrie had also received an offer to write the sequel’s screenplay, which was rumoured to have Cruise’s character Maverick in a smaller role. Peter Craig, Justin Marks, who described the film as a dream project, Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz would be credited as screenwriters on the project.

When asked about his idea for a new Top Gun film, Scott replied, “This world fascinated me, because it’s so different from what it was originally. But I don’t want to do a remake. I don’t want to do a reinvention. I want to do a new movie.” The film will reportedly focus on the end of the dogfighting era and the role of drones in modern aerial warfare and that Cruise’s character, Maverick, will fly an F/A-18 Super Hornet. After Scott’s suicide, the sequel’s future remained in question, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer remained committed to the project, especially given Cruise’s and Kilmer’s interest.

In June 2017, Cruise revealed that the title would be Top Gun: Maverick, with Harold Faltermeyer returning as composer for the sequel. Cruise further stated that, “Aviators are back, the need for speed. We’re going to have big, fast machines. It’s going to be a competition film, like the first one … but a progression for Maverick.” Later the same month, it was confirmed that the film would be directed by Joseph Kosinski, while no title was officially confirmed.

Musician Kenny Loggins has confirmed that his iconic song “Danger Zone” will be featured in the film. In October 2018, it was reported that Hans Zimmer would also compose for the film alongside Harold Faltermeyer.

On 19 June 2019, at CineEurope in Barcelona, attendees were able to watch for the first time some early footage of the film from a special Paramount presentation. During the presentation the President of International Theatrical Distribution Mark Viane and Co-President of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution Mary Daily appeared in flight clothes.

Casting

Val Kilmer had campaigned on his social media page that he would like to reprise his role in the film, and by June 2018, The Wrap reported that he will appear in the film. In July 2018, Miles Teller was cast in the role of Goose’s son, against Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell. All three were flown to the home of Tom Cruise, the star of the film, for chemistry tests. Later that month, Jennifer Connelly joined the film’s cast to play a single mother running a bar near the Naval base.

In August 2018, Powell joined the cast of the film in a pilot trainee role that was enlarged for him, having impressed star Tom Cruise, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, as well as executives at Paramount Pictures and Skydance, with his auditions. That same month, Monica Barbaro, Thomasin McKenzie, Charles Parnell, Jay Ellis, Bashir Salahuddin, Danny Ramirez, Ed Harris, Jon Hamm and Lewis Pullman joined the cast of the film with Barbaro, Ellis, and Ramirez portraying pilot trainees and McKenzie portraying Connelly’s daughter. In September 2018, Manny Jacinto joined the cast of the film. In October 2018, Kara Wang, Jack Schumacher, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Jean Louisa Kelly and Lyliana Wray joined the cast of the film. Additionally, McKenzie was forced to drop out of the film after signing onto Lost Girls. In November 2018, Chelsea Harris joined the cast of the film in an undisclosed role.

According to Kelly McGillis, who appeared in the original film, she was not asked to appear in the sequel.

Filming

Preliminary production on the film officially started on 30 May 2018, in San Diego, California. During late August a 15-person film crew from Paramount and Bruckheimer Films were aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to shoot flight deck operations. In mid-February 2019, Cruise and the production crew were sighted on board USS Theodore Roosevelt at NAS North Island. In March, filming was completed at NAS Whidbey Island in Oak Harbour, Washington.

On 19 June 2019, Miles Teller revealed in an interview that he had finished filming two days earlier.[48] Principal photography was scheduled until 15 April 2019, in San Diego, California; Lemoore, California; China Lake, California; Lake Tahoe, California; Seattle, Washington; and Patuxent River, Maryland.

The movie was filmed in IMAX format using IMAX-Certified Sony Venice 6K Full Frame cameras.

Marketing

The film’s first trailer premiered during a surprise appearance by Tom Cruise at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con on July 18, 2019. The first trailer received high praise from fans, with many lauding the return of the series and some comparing it to Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that some fans noticed that the flag of the Republic of China (known as the Taiwanese flag) and the Flag of Japan were missing from the bomber jacket of Cruise’s character and accused Paramount of removing it to appease a China-based co-financier.

In February 2020, toy manufacturer Matchbox company (owned by Mattel) announced that they were releasing a series of Top Gun die-cast models and products, including an F-14 Tomcat, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, North American P-51 Mustang and role play items. They were scheduled for public release on 01 June 2020, despite the delayed theatrical release.

In June 2020, plastic model manufacturer Revell company released a series of 1/48 scale Top Gun plastic models, including an F-14A Tomcat and a Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet based upon the aircraft in the movie. These are versions of previous Revell offerings with modified decals and markings.

In August 2021, the first 13 minutes of the film was previewed at CinemaCon along with a new trailer with Tom Cruise marking his presence virtually at the event.

In February 2022, a trailer of the film tied to Porsche was aired before Super Bowl LVI.

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures on 12 July 2019. In August 2018, it was delayed to 26 June 2020, purportedly to “allow the production to work out all the complex flight sequences”. On 02 March 2020, Paramount moved the film up two days early to 24 June 2020. On 02 April 2020, it was delayed to 23 December 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On 23 July 2020, the film was once again delayed to 02 July 2021, partially due to scheduling conflicts with Cruise, as well as the recent delays of Mulan and Tenet due to the rise of COVID-19 cases. In April 2021, the film was delayed once again to 19 November 2021, amidst Paramount’s shifting of release dates with Mission: Impossible 7, which was delayed from the date.

On 01 September 2021, the film was delayed again once more to 27 May 2022.

Netflix and Apple TV+ have reportedly tried to purchase the distribution rights to the film, but Paramount has refused to sell them. It will later be streamed on Paramount+, 45 days after its theatrical release.

Trivia

• Tom Cruise’s involvement in this movie was predicated on the condition that real aircraft be used in the aerial sequences, not CGI.
• The World War II P-51 Mustang seen in this movie is actually Tom Cruise’s own airplane; he is an accomplished pilot in real life.
• It was rumoured that the plot would be centred around drone warfare before Tom Cruise confirmed this sequel would be going back to fighter jets.
  • Drones will still serve some point of the plot, however.
• It was unknown if Val Kilmer was going to be in this movie due to his battle with throat cancer.
  • However, as of January 2020, he is confirmed to reprise his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky.
• Tom Cruise is now older than Tom Skerritt was when he played Viper in the original Top Gun (1986).
• The second trailer appears to show Maverick flying the highly speculated, and still in development, Lockheed Martin SR-72 High Performance Reconnaissance Aircraft.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Joseph Kosinki.
• Producer(s):
  • Jerry Bruckheimer … producer.
  • Emily Cheung … associate producer.
  • Tom Cruise … producer.
  • David Ellison … producer.
  • Dana Goldberg … executive producer.
  • Don Granger … executive producer.
  • Tommy Harper … executive producer.
  • Chad Oman … executive producer.
  • Mike Stenson … executive producer.
• Writer(s):
  • Ehren Kruger … (screenplay by).
  • Eric Warren Singer … (screenplay by).
  • Christopher McQuarrie … (screenplay by).
  • Justin Marks … (story by).
  • Jim Cash … (based on characters created by).
  • Jack Epps Jr. … (based on characters created by).
  • Peter Craig … (Writer).
• Music:
  • Harold Faltermeyer.
  • Hans Zimmer.
• Cinematography:
  • Claudio Miranda.
• Editor(s):
  • Eddie Hamilton.
  • Chris Lebenzon.
• Production:
  • Paramount Pictures (presents).
  • Skydance Media (presents).
  • Jerry Bruckheimer Films (presents).
  • New Republic Pictures (in association with).
  • Tencent Pictures (in association with).
  • TC Productions (a Tom Cruise production).
• Distribution:
  • Central Partnership (2021) (Russia) (theatrical).
  • Eagle Pictures (2021) (Italy) (theatrical).
  • Paramount Pictures International (2021) (Argentina) (theatrical) (through United International Pictures).
  • Paramount Pictures (2020) (India) (theatrical).
  • Paramount Pictures (2021) (Australia) (theatrical).
  • Paramount Pictures (2021) (Canada) (theatrical).
  • Paramount Pictures (2021) (France) (theatrical).
  • Paramount Pictures (2021) (Germany) (theatrical).
  • Paramount Pictures (2021) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through Universal Pictures International).
  • Paramount Pictures (2021) (UK) (theatrical).
  • Paramount Pictures (2021) (USA) (theatrical).
  • Toho-Towa (2021) (Japan) (theatrical).
  • United International Pictures (UIP) (2021) (Argentina) (theatrical) (through).
  • United International Pictures (UIP) (2021) (Philippines) (theatrical).
  • United International Pictures (UIP) (2021) (Singapore) (theatrical).
  • Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2021) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through).
  • Paramount+ (2021) (USA) (video) (VOD).
• Release Date: 27 May 2022.
• Running time: XX minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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