Will There Be a ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Sequel? Only If Tom Cruise Wants One

Point of view: You’ve just finished streaming Top Gun: Maverick on demand, and you’re crying because the legacy of Goose lives on through Rooster. Also, you’re wondering, “When the heck does the Top Gun: Maverick sequel come out?”

We know you have a need for speed, but you’re going to want to slow your roll on that one. After all, it took 36 years to get Top Gun 2 made. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the movie stars Tom Cruise reprising his role as Maverick, who this time around is a seasoned pilot tasked with training the hot-shot new recruits in the Top Gun program. That includes Lieutenants Jake “Hangman” Seresin (played by Glen Powell) and Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (played by Miles Teller), in who Maverick sees his own story.

By the movie’s end, you’ll be begging for more movies with these characters, both old and new. Here’s what we know so far about the possibility of a Top Gun: Maverick sequel, aka Top Gun 3.

Is there going to be a Top Gun 3?

The short answer? We don’t yet know.

There is no official news of a Top Gun: Maverick sequel at this time. Given the film’s massive box office success—making over $1.4 billion at the global box office, the kind of profit Hollywood hasn’t seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic—it seems very likely that Paramount would greenlight Top Gun 3 in a heartbeat. But, according to the cast and crew in various interviews, it all depends on what Tom Cruise wants.

Miles Teller has been vocal about his hopes for another Top Gun movie that focuses on his character, LT Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Maverick’s late best friend, Goose. That said, the star stressed that the onus was on Cruise to decide, and that he has been “having conversations” with his co-star.

“That would be great, but that’s all up to TC,” Teller told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s all up to Tom. I’ve been having some conversations with him about it. We’ll see.”

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski had a similar answer when IndieWire asked him about the possibility of another Top Gun sequel. “It took 36 years for Tom to agree to do this one,” the director said with a laugh. “It’s up to him. He’s the one that has to be convinced. That’s how this project started, with Jerry and I going to Paris to talk Tom into it. It’s all about story. It’s all about emotion. If we can figure out a way, a journey for Maverick to go back and be with these young pilots and figure something out, maybe it could happen. I think for now, we should just enjoy that we got this one.”

So far, the man himself has not weighed in on the Top Gun 3 discussion. Cruise is a bit busy for the next two years with two more Mission: Impossible movies, which he is producing in addition to starring in. Whether or not he has room in his schedule for a Top Gun: Maverick sequel remains to be seen. We’ll have to wait and see!