'Top Gun' producer hints at 'Maverick' sequel

Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer teased a sequel to Maverick as he revealed that lead star Tom Cruise has been pitched a "story he liked."

In an interview with PEOPLE Magazine, Bruckheimer said they are "working on" the third installment but it's not coming anytime soon as Cruise is a "very in-demand actor" who "has a lot of movies lined up."

"We have to wait and see," he told the media outlet.

Bruckheimer went on to praise the actor's work ethic, saying that he's "really engaged in every part of the process."

"A lot of actors, they finish the day, they get in their car, and they go home. Tom stays around, talks to the other actors, looks at the film that they shot, wants to know what's happening tomorrow," he explained.

While Cruise has been busy with Mission: Impossible 8, which is slated for release next year, Bruckheimer, in a separate interview with ScreenRant, assured the public that Cruise will still be playing his role Pete “Maverick” Mitchelle in Top Gun's next installment.

"It will be Tom Cruise. Tom is amazing. We spent time with him. We have a story. [Director] Joe Kosinski had a wonderful story idea for it, and he (Tom Cruise) said I really like that, so we’re developing it. But you never know when it’s going to get made because Tom is so busy. He’s doing Mission: Impossible right now, he’s got a picture after it. Hopefully, we’ll get a screenplay that he loves, and we’ll be back in the air again," he said. 

Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the 1986 hit film Top Gun. It's set over 30 years after the happenings in the first movie, showing Maverick going back to the Top Gun institute and training graduates, including Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of his late wingman Goose, for a mission.

According to CNBC, it became the top grossing film of 2022.