Apparently, Tom Cruise still feels the need — the need for speed.
More than three decades after Maverick uttered the famous line in Top Gun, Cruise continues to prove he has an addiction to going fast. After returning to the cockpit for Top Gun: Maverick, the superstar is now getting back behind the wheel as NASCAR driver Cole Trickle in a new Days of Thunder movie.
Cruise will reprise his role from the 1990 racing film, with Anne Hathaway joining him as a team owner and engineer. Cruise will also produce alongside longtime collaborator Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper, while Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies, Long Shot) will direct from a screenplay by Will Staples.
The original Days of Thunder, directed by Tony Scott, raced to $82.7 million domestically and $157.9 million worldwide in 1990. The film also starred Nicole Kidman, in her first Hollywood role, and both actors went on to become Hollywood’s “It Couple.”
But Cruise's appetite for revisiting his speed-obsessed characters has already paid off in a massive way. Top Gun: Maverick became a global phenomenon, ultimately soaring past $1.5 billion worldwide across its releases.
Can Cruise pull off another decades-later legacy sequel? Paramount is certainly putting this one on the biggest track possible. The new Days of Thunder will be filmed for IMAX and released exclusively in theaters, including Dolby Cinema, 4DX, premium large formats and IMAX.
Cruise will fire up the engines again when Days of Thunder races into theaters June 2, 2028.
Nearly 40 years later, Cole Trickle is back — because when you're Tom Cruise, apparently there's no such thing as slowing down.
