No stranger to action-packed sequels, legendary actor Tom Cruise looks poised to get back in the ol’ stock car cockpit for a very belated sequel to 1990’s NASCAR-centric movie Days of Thunder.
This according to a new story from The Hollywood Reporter, which is designed to amplify the news of the Days of Thunder follow-up, but I couldn’t help but notice that development on the sequel to Top Gun: Maverick will proceed as planned. Here’s a quote from a studio insider about how Cruise is approaching both projects.
“He’s talking [to Paramount] about Top Gun and Days of Thunder…It’s going to be what comes together first in terms of a script. It depends on the idea and, ultimately, the script.”
Tom Cruise is looking to make a sequel to another of his action classics, and it’s not one that you’d expect–The actor is talking to Paramount about a follow-up to his 1990 NASCAR racing film 'Days of Thunder' https://t.co/aoJ5BsRG9W pic.twitter.com/zqIgdv1Hsm
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 1, 2024
It took decades before Cruise landed on a script and story he was satisfied with to make Top Gun: Maverick, but damn did it pay off big by banking nearly $1.5 billion at the box office. Maverick‘s smashing success was a big boon to movie theaters in the aftermath of COVID. Would be kinda cool to see what’s next in that story since it’s still pretty fresh and was built on the foundation of a mega hit first movie.
Days of Thunder did well financially, grossing $157.9 million on a $60 million budget, but critics gave it lukewarm reviews. Ironically, at the time, the reunion of director Tony Scott and Cruise from the first Top Gun prompted enormous expectations for Thunder. When the film didn’t live up to those, it was always in the shadow of Top Gun.
Given that Kidman and Cruise met on the Thunder set when she played his love interest, got married in real life, and obviously wound up divorcing, I very much doubt she’d be back for this sequel. Cary Elwes popped up in the latest entry of the Mission: Impossible franchise, so especially given that, I could see him reprise his role in Days of Thunder 2 as Russ Wheeler, the teammate/rival NASCAR driver to Cruise’s protagonist named Cole Trickle.
Cruise is pretty much an automatic box office draw at this point. I mean shoot, he’ll have to be given how much the budget has ballooned on the next M:I flick.
The budget for ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 8’ is near $400M
Paramount is interested in marketing the film as the final entry in the franchise to boost audience interest but Tom Cruise is against a public goodbye to the character.
(Source: https://t.co/ScQZ028T82) pic.twitter.com/gj503tJA3y
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 1, 2024
If it’s Ethan Hunt or Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, though, people have flocked to theaters in bunches to see Cruise for the most part. Is this one too many times back to the long-gestating sequel well? I doubt it. Tom Cruise is a creative force of nature and, in my opinion, would revile telling a story at this point in his career if it wasn’t absolutely stacked with narrative potential. Granted, Cole Trickle isn’t anywhere near as iconic of a character as Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, Maverick, or Les Grossman for that matter (IYKYK, I hope you know).
I get the commercial viability of going for another pulse-pounding action vehicle (car pun intended) for his next several movies, but at the same time, Cruise has serious comedic and dramatic chops that he should try to show off more outside the preexisting IP space. His currently-shooting film with The Revenant and Birdman director Alejandro G. Iñárritu will hopefully should a different side.
But in any event, with some of the cockpit camerawork pioneered by Cruise and Co. in Top Gun: Maverick and all these years to let the Days of Thunder characters breathe, we could be in for a refreshing thrill ride. I’m about 88% sure I’d be seated for opening night as is. Just hope we get that Maverick sequel soon, too.
