With Tom Cruise gracing the cover of the magazine and the man himself accepting the Legend Of Our Lifetime award at the Jameson Empire Awards on Sunday night, it seems somehow fitting to bring word of developments on a sequel to one of his most famous movies. According to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the pieces are slowly falling into place for Top Gun 2.
The sequel, which had been idling on the development runway waiting for take-off, was once more grounded by the untimely death of director Tony Scott. As Bruckheimer tells it, Scott had gotten closer than anyone to figuring out what the new movie should be about.
"We've been trying to get that movie made for 30 years, and I think we're getting closer and closer," Bruckheimer told The Huffington Post’s Live show. "Don Simpson and I tried to develop something; we didn't succeed. Tom Cruise took over, and he tried to develop something, and he didn't succeed. Now we're back at it."
So what might we expect from the follow-up to the training days of Maverick and co.? It sounds like the sequel will be bringing things bang up to date.
"The concept is, basically, are the pilots obsolete because of drones. Cruise is going to show them that they're not obsolete. They're here to stay," Bruckheimer said. "It's just getting to the starting place. Fortunately for Tom, he's very busy, so you have to find a slot he can fit into and get a budget that Paramount feels they can make the picture."
While we’re not going to hold our breath for it happening just yet, at least it appears there’s a grasp of what everyone is aiming for.