Top Gun: Maverick took the world by storm with its spectacle of aerial stunts and scenes. It provided a cinematic experience that will remain unparalleled for years to come, thanks to Joseph Kosinski's impeccable direction, Jerry Bruckheimer's power in producing, and Tom Cruise taking the lead to fill in the shoes of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell again. Both Kosinski and Bruckheimer have shared their thoughts on the physical toll of Top Gun’s aerial stunts, as well as some words on the possibility of another Top Gun sequel in the future.
In this candid conversation with Deadline, director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer opened up about the making of the film and what it was like working with Hollywood icon Tom Cruise. They also tease the possibility of another Top Gun sequel down the road, which Kosinski revealed that it would all depend on finding a story worth telling.
“Is there another story that is compelling enough that we need to go back? It seems to me at the end of this film that Maverick has some gas left in the tank. He’s not settling down.”
Tom Cruise and the Cast's Physical Commitment to Top Gun: Maverick
It's been over thirty years since the original Top Gun was released. The film was a sensation and made Tom Cruise a bona fide movie star. Director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer went to great lengths to make the action-packed sequel a reality. They described the physical boundaries that Tom Cruise and the other actors were willing to push in order to bring the film to life. Tom Cruise was fully committed, putting himself through intense physical training and aerial flying stunts to prepare for his role.
“I knew we’d be able to get Tom on the plane, but we weren’t sure about the rest of the cast. So, Tom devised this three-month course for all the actors, to start with a very simple airplane and work their way up to the Navy jet. They all were able to do all their scenes in the jets for real, which is just phenomenal because you can’t imagine how physically difficult it is to do what they’re doing. They’re flying with real Top Gun pilots. They’re doing the same maneuvers, even more intense maneuvers than they do in training.”
Bruckheimer also added that each cast member had to endure a series of water survival stunts to bring the story to life on the big screen. “They put them into a cage blindfolded, dump them in the water about six or eight feet down and turn them upside down,” he said. “They had to figure out how to get out of that cage.”
It will come as no surprise that the movie features some of the most jaw-dropping impressive aerial footage ever captured on film. What may be surprising is just how much of that incredible footage was shot without the use of CGI – and how physically demanding those stunts were for star Tom Cruise and the rest of the cast. Top Gun: Maverick will start streaming on Paramount+ on December 22nd.