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Tom Cruise, the versatile actor/producer, is cruising full speed ahead on a bunch of new projects, including Top Gun 3, which is in development at Paramount. He’s also shooting Mission : Impossible 8 for the same studio and is working on a space adventure at Universal, directed by Doug Liman. To say nothing of Cruise’s just-inked deal with Warner Bros.
According to published reports, the new Top Gun 3 script is being drafted by Top Gun : Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger. Miles Teller and Glen Powell will be returning to the cast, and it’s being speculated that Joe Kosinski will assume the role of either director or producer.
Top Gun: Maverick was a major triumph for Cruise. It grossed $1.49 billion, the most lucrative film of his career. Maverick captured six Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and took home the statuette in the Best Sound category. David Ellison of Skydance was one of the producers that co-financed the film, along with Jerry Bruckheimer.
No details have been released about the content of Top Gun 3, or when the film would be released.
As for Mission Impossible 8, the movie saw its original release date delayed several times due to the pandemic and SAG-AFTRA strike, and is now scheduled to debut on May 23, 2025. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film features Henry Czerny and Vanessa Kirby in starring roles.
Tom Cruise broke into films in the 1980s, appearing in such movies as Risky Business, Top Gun, The Color of Money. and Born on the Fourth of July (he was actually born on July 3). The actor has played Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible series since 1996, and has been quoted as saying he wants to continue making Mission Impossible movies until he’s in his eighties.
Given Cruise’s seemingly limitless energy—he’ll soon be filmed doing a spacewalk outside the International Space Station—that certainly seems plausible. He turns 80 on July 3, 2042.