Top Gun 3

In 2022, after 36 years of waiting, we finally got our need, our need for speed satisfied when Top Gun: Maverick hit screens in a massive way. Tom Cruise returned as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and helped the flick his Mach 10 on its way to about $1.5 billion dollars at the global box office. It immediately begged the question of whether we could actually get a Top Gun 3 in our lives anytime soon.

Well, though the first sequel took close to four decades to finally materialize, there’s some hope that a Top Gun 3 would have a significantly faster turnaround (if it were to happen at all).

Let’s take a look at the prospects for a Top Gun 3 and what else might be in the works for this franchise.

There Is No Official Confirmation For Top Gun 3

Let’s get the formalities out of the way early here. There is nothing set in stone for a Top Gun 3 as of this writing. From a studio perspective, there are no hard and fast plans to make a third movie in this franchise or to add to it with other films around other characters.

That being said, there’s been some hints here and there from the major players that would very much point to the idea that they are noodling around different plans. And when it comes to a third film, some folks might even be really incentivized to see it happen. You remember that $1.5 billion dollar thing from before, right?

But as of right now, we aren’t in pre-production in any way and no one has officially signed on for the next movie.

Tom Cruise Thinks He Can Do Better For Top Gun 3

It’s well known at this point that Tom Cruise puts about as much work into a movie as any actor or star we’ve ever seen in Hollywood. He performs his own death-defying stunts and is completely involved in nearly every aspect of a film’s production. Frankly, it’s one of the reasons these things become massive blockbusters. There’s a level of buy-in one doesn’t often see 

In an interview with Fandango in the lead-up for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Cruise intimated that he looks at every movie he’s made and thinks “…we can do better.” To that, the interviewer asked his if that mantra applied specifically to Top Gun and he said, “Oh for sure, oh I think I can.”

While this might just be the way Tom Cruise operated when it comes to movies, it also would seem that he’s thought about just how Top Gun 3 could improve on the second movie.

Miles Teller Has Talked To Tom Cruise About Top Gun 3

Miles Teller made his way into the Top Gun franchise as Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Nick “Goose” Bradshaw who was played by Anthony Edwards in this first film. Obviously, Goose’s tragic death is a turning point in that film, and Top Gun: Maverick played into the relationship between Maverick and Rooster. 

The two characters have an arc that ultimately ends with each finding some redemption for the past. It was a great way to round out the story for these two as the continuation of the first flick.

Well, it doesn’t look like Miles Teller wants to be done with the Top Gun franchise. Back in July 2022, he told Deadline that he’d been in talks with Tom Cruise about reprising the part in Top Gun 3. He said, I’ve been having some conversations with him [Tom Cruise] about it. We’ll see…It’s all up to Tom.”

And before Top Gun 3 had even come out, Teller had told Screen Rant that he was pitching a movie called Top Gun: Rooster to Paramount. Since then, there has been no indication or confirmation whether that would be moving forward.

Top Gun 3 Would Be Years Away If It Came Out At All

Again, there is no official word about Top Gun 3 and it’s only a dream at this point. But even if if did get confirmed, one would have to assume there would be at least a few years of production time before it hit theaters. That puts us many, many years out even in the best-cast scenario.