Sounds like Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on board.
Last week, the Hollywood Reporter revealed that a Days of Thunder sequel officially has the green light, or the green flag, I guess, and will be directed by Jonathan Levine, with Tom Cruise once again set to star in the movie, as he did the original.
There have been plenty of rumors swirling over the last several months that a Days of Thunder remake is on the horizon, and of course, Tom Cruise shined in the 1990 film. It brought more eyes and attention to stock car racing, and it’s one of the first films of his lengthy career where he did some of his own stunts and really dove deep into his role (he actually raced in the months prior to filming).
Cruise himself previously said they’re starting the production on another installment of the NASCAR-inspired film, and Jeff Gordon is actually the one who spilled the beans about the sequel in a recent interview with Road & Track. The former driver of the No. 24 car – and the current vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports – revealed that he’s close with Tom Cruise, and that the last time he saw him, the Top Gun star shared that a second Days of Thunder was going to happen:
“I mean, all I can say is… I’ve known Tom for many years and was on set this past year for ‘Mission: Impossible,’ and then I went to the premiere. And the first word out of his mouth is, ‘We’re doing it. We’re doing Days of Thunder 2.’”
Hendrick Motorsports was key to the original Days of Thunder, and team legend Jeff Gordon is ready to help with a possible reboot. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/8neRrSEcQd
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) June 16, 2025
And it sounds like Paramount is behind the production, as Cruise will also co-produce the movie with Jerry Bruckheimer, one of the producers of the original movie.
Levine and Paramount are currently in negotiations for the contract, and while most of the further details are still very much under wraps, they did tell HR that the script is being written by Will Staples, and Cruise will once again star in it. Of course, he played hotshot NASCAR driver Cole Trickle in the original, which he starred in alongside the late Robert Duvall as well as Nicole Kidman, Cary Elwes and Randy Quaid.
It will be really interesting to see what they do with the storyline considering Cruise will be playing a much older driver, if he plays a driver, and there are a ton of different directions they could go. It’s one of the most beloved racing movies, and they certainly have their work cut out for them.
When all of these rumors really got going last year, one of the sports current most prominent figures, Dale Jr., was totally behind the idea of a sequel, and he also shared memories of the first one, recalling being very surprised when Cruise showed up at DEI much shorter than he imagined, and with a face “full of pimples”:
“Tom Cruise came by Dale Earnhardt Incorporated back when it was just the deer head shop. He had the deer head shop and one office and there was nothing else there. This was way before dad built DEI. So it was just a building with the Xfinity team in there. I was really young, and this was before they had ever started shooting ‘Days of Thunder.’
I must’ve been 12 or so, pretty young. Well we’re told… Tom Cruise just finished ‘Risky Business.’ He was still on the backend of the success of that movie, and dad told Kelley and I that this actor Tom Cruise was coming by later in the afternoon to talk to dad. It was dad, maybe Teresa and me and Kelley, and the people that, the four or five employees that worked at the shop, not a crowd.
Well Tom drives up, he was with someone else, they get out of the car, they walk in, Tom Cruise is not as tall as I expected him to be and he’s got a face full of pimples. He’s really young at this point, but he and dad go into dad’s office and they talked for like an hour, hour and a half, long time.”
Not only did Cruise pick Dale Sr.’s brain about racing, but apparently, he also wanted Sr. to possibly play the role of Burns himself… but Sr. wasn’t an actor, and believe it or not, he didn’t want to “play the villain.”
And Jr. revealed on the most recent episode of his Bless Your Hardt podcast that he might know some of the details about the sequel, explaining that he’s seen some of the people behind it “out and about digging into the sport” and talking with all kinds of industry people, from drivers and beyond, “doing some homework” to make sure they get it all right:
“Oh, it’s happening, I’m excited. I think it’s great, it will be awesome for our sport, it’ll be awesome for old and new fans. I’m sure they’ll be a lot of easter eggs in there.
I’ve seen these guys out and about digging into the sport, trying to talk to people, meeting with people, talking with drivers, talking with all types of people in the industry. They’re doing some homework, digging and gathering.”
His wife, Amy, added that they truly want it to be a “good representation and authentic,” just how they did with the first one:
“They want it to be a good representation and authentic, just like they did with the first one.”
Jr. explained that he believes it will be a “great experience” for the fans and everyone involved:
“So I’m bullish about it, I’m positive about it, that it’s gonna be a great experience.”
I feel like he obviously knows more than he’s letting on, so I fully trust his judgement in terms of them being headed in the right direction… the first Days of Thunder was so good and true to the sport, and that’s why it’s beloved, so if they’re going to attempt to recapture that magic, they’re going to have to get the basics and essence of the sport right.
Amy also said she thinks since Tom Cruise is involved again, there’s a high likelihood it will be another great sequel:
“I thought that the ‘Top Gun’ movies for the first and second were good. Like, the second one, everyone was kinda thinking the same thing, like, how can this be good? And he always does a good job. The way that they develop that story too, I feel like it’s gonna be similar to that.
There’s gonna be somebody new and young come in, and he’s, I don’t know, gonna coach them, maybe. We’ll see, but it’s gonna be great.”
Jr. has a different idea for the storyline:
“My guess is that it’s Cole Trickle comeback story. I think it might be, we’ll see.”
I feel like it might be some sort of blend of both of their ideas, because let’s be honest, Tom Cruise is definitely nowhere near as young as he was in the first movie, and I think they might need parts of both of those ideas to really make it work, but like they said, we’ll just have to wait and see.
