With an insatiable need for speed, Maverick (Tom Cruise) is headed back to the cockpit in Top Gun 3. Indeed, one of the biggest tidbits to come out of CinemaCon 2026 in Las Vegas is Paramount Pictures’ impending production of Top Gun 3. Although 36 years elapsed between the first and second franchise entries, the third iteration aims to capitalize on the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick, which almost single-handedly kept movie theaters from extinction in the post-COVID era.
Although there isn’t a ton of new information beyond the official confirmation, Cruise made a dramatic contribution to the announcement in a video presentation touting Paramount’s past successes, standing atop the studio’s iconic water tank and declaring, “The future looks pretty great from here.” The more pertinent question becomes, can Top Gun 3 do for the movie theater industry what its predecessor did four years ago?
‘Top Gun 3’ is Confirmed At CinemaCon 2026
Following the much-needed theatrical success of Top Gun: Maverick, which grossed a whopping $1.5 billion worldwide, talks of a sequel began almost immediately. In May 2022, Miles Teller, who played Rooster in the film, pitched a sequel idea revolving around his character, titled Top Gun: Rooster. In July 2022, Teller claimed he was in discussion with Tom Cruise about further developing the sequel.
In January 2024, Paramount officially confirmed that a new Top Gun movie was in the works, with Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger working on the script. However, in May 2025, Tom Cruise’s longtime collaborator, Christopher McQuarrie (who co-wrote Maverick), confirmed that he was writing the Top Gun 3 screenplay. Cruise and McQuarrie have worked together on at least 10 feature films, including five Mission: Impossible movies, Valkyrie, Jack Reacher, The Mummy, Edge of Tomorrow, and Top Gun: Maverick.
After two years of development, Paramount executive Josh Greenstein announced at the studio’s CinemaCon 2026 presentation:
“Top Gun 3 officially in development with a script well underway, reuniting Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer.”
A power producer in the 1980s, Bruckheimer has produced three previous Cruise movies, including the original Top Gun, the underrated NASCAR movie Days of Thunder, and Top Gun: Maverick. With Cruise and Bruckheimer back in the cockpit together for the new action sequel, the new Top Gun movie shouldn’t miss a beat and retain the same, flash-bang entertainment style.
What Will ‘Top Gun 3’ Be About?
With the screenplay well underway (presumably by McQuarrie), plot details for Top Gun 3 have not been revealed. However, the story is expected to present Pete “Maverick” Mitchell with a new existential challenge while taking on an exhilarating new flight mission. Some reports claim the new storyline will tackle drone warfare and the threat of AI, but nothing has been confirmed so far.
Given how much bigger the scale and stakes of Maverick were compared with the original, fans can expect an even larger conflict and more robust production. Maverick also put great audiovisual emphasis on stunning aerial acrobatics, which is sure to continue in the sequel (it had better).
As Cruise told People in 2022 while promoting Maverick:
“It’s about flying. Not only the challenges, but the beauty. I parachute. I speed fly. I fly helicopters. I fly aerobatics on all of those. There’s a poetry about it at a level where you’re looking at what man has achieved, what he’s capable of, to see the world from that viewpoint.”
Who Will Star in ‘Top Gun 3’?
As expected, Tom Cruise will headline Top Gun 3 as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Almost certain to perform death-defying stunts as he has throughout his career, Cruise never phones in a performance and isn’t likely to start soon.
However, one of the biggest pieces of news is the lack of a director attached to Top Gun 3. Joseph Kosinski, who directed Tom Cruise in Maverick and Oblivion, is not attached to helm the Top Gun sequel at this time. Kosinski recently wrapped an untitled alien-disclosure thriller for Apple and is in pre-production on a Miami Vice reboot slated for a 2027 release, putting his availability into question.
Of course, Maverick saw Pete Mitchell tasked with training a new crop of jet-fighter pilots, including Rooster (Teller), Hangman (Glen Powell), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Payback (Jay Ellis), Fanboy (Danny Ramirez), Bob (Lewis Pullman), and others. So far, no casting has been announced for Top Gun 3. At the very least, Teller and Powell are expected to return, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
When Will ‘Top Gun 3’ Be Released?
With the script still in flux, a director yet to be hired, and a cast not yet in place, there is no official release date for Top Gun at this time. However, the expectation is that it will not come out until at least 2028. Looking at Paramount’s production slate through 2028, Taylor Sheridan’s Call of Duty is scheduled for release on June 30, the untitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie on November 17, and the untitled Sonic sequel on December 22.
With Maverick opening in late May 2022, if Top Gun 3 is fast-tracked, it could theoretically open before the three tentpole projects listed above. But again, all that is speculation at this point. The main takeaway is that the original star-producer tandem of Cruise/Bruckheimer is set to return for Top Gun 3, with the director, supporting cast, and release date to be determined.
