Tom Cruise confirmed to return as Maverick in Top Gun 3

Tom Cruise will return to his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in a third Top Gun movie, Paramount confirmed at CinemaCon this week.

The 61-year-old action star first played the character in 1986’s Top Gun and returned in 2022 for Top Gun: Maverick, which was a massively successful box office hit grossing $1.496 billion worldwide.

Now, Variety reports that Paramount have announced that Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer will both return to the franchise.

Top Gun: Maverick screenwriter Ehren Kruger is already at work on a script, while it has previously been reported that the studio plans for director Joseph Kosinski to return and for Cruise to reunite with his co-stars Glen Powell and Miles Teller.

While it’s no surprise that Paramount would look to repeat the success of Top Gun: Maverick, the news caused some eyebrows to be raised in Hollywood as Cruise signed a new deal with rival studio Warner Bros. in 2024. The two companies are currently in the midst of a high-profile merger, which has been opposed by some actors and directors.

Cruise will develop and star in films for Warner Bros, but the contract is non-exclusive so the star can continue working on Top Gun 3 at Paramount regardless of the status of the merger.

As well as being a commercial hit, Top Gun: Maverick was also nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. At the time, Steven Spielberg said he was “encouraged” to see the blockbuster on the shortlist along with Avatar: The Way of Water.

“I’m really encouraged by that,” said the legendary ET director. “[But] it came late for the film that should have been nominated a number of years ago, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

“That movie would have definitely garnered a Best Picture Nomination today, so having these two blockbusters solidly presented on the top 10 list is something we should all be celebrating.”