Out doing his Unstoppable rounds, Tony Scott has dropped some hints about the thrust of Top Gun 2.
The film, revealed to be in the works a week or so ago, will not be "a remake or a reinvention" according to the director, but will examine the quantum developments in military tech since the first film, and deal with "the end of the era of the fighter pilots".
Scott's interest was piqued by a chance encounter on - what else? - a plane. Heading home from Vegas, Scott found himself sitting next to a hung-over computer geek who turned out to be a military test pilot. "These kids sit in a trailer in Nevada," explains Scott, "and if we ever went to war, these guys would actually be flying the drones: the unmanned aircraft. They operate them like they're playing war games, and then they party all night! Their world fascinated me because it's so different from what it was originally."
There's no script yet, but Scott will be flying down to Fallon, Nevada shortly, to start doing some homework. He wouldn't be drawn on whether we can expect to see the return of Maverick, but did say that Top Gun 2 won't be his immediate next project. It might be the one after that, but he's promising nothing. With Potsdamer Platz, The Associate, The Chippendales (!) and Mark Millar's Nemesis all clamouring at his door, Top Gun 2 may be some way away yet.
Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, is out in the UK on November 24.