Many franchises have gone back to the well and created sequels decades after the original, but none of them have seen the success that Top Gun: Maverick had. That film made a billion dollars during a period, that is still ongoing, and theatrical releases in general are not the sure things they once were. With numbers like that, it was no shock that nobody wanted to wait three decades to make another one. Top Gun 3 is in early development now, and one person as excited as me to potentially see the movie get made is Maverick co-star Jennifer Connelly.
The early word is that we can expect to see Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, and Glen Powell from the Top Gun: Maverick cast return if and when Top Gun 3 happens. The fate of other characters is certainly up in the air, but Jennifer Connelly says that she would love to return, as she had a blast making the last movie and is ready to do so again. She told ET…
I’ll be there. I’m ready. We had such a great time shooting it. It was fun.
The good news for Connelly is that any sequel that gets made in the next couple of years will more than likely use more of the characters from the last movie, so there will probably be a place for her. Top Gun: Maverick introduced a lot of new characters who weren’t in the previous film, but considering the decades that had passed, that only made sense. If the sequel takes place only shortly after the last film, bringing most of the cast back makes equal sense.
Of course, just because work is being done on Top Gun 3 doesn’t mean it will happen. There were multiple attempts to make Top Gun 2 a thing in the years after the first movie made Tom Cruise a star, but the stars didn’t quite align. While Cruise himself always made it clear that he was interested in a sequel, what was also clear was that he wasn’t going to make it unless conditions were just right.
Connelly, however, isn’t just sitting by the phone and waiting to see what happens with Top Gun 3. The actress admits she’s spoken to director Joe Kosinski, who is expected to return to direct Top Gun 3 if and when it happens. Connelly is close with the director, who previously directed her in Only the Brave, and the two have spoken about the next Top Gun. It sounds like things are very much still in the “wait and see” period. She continued…
I haven’t seen anything. I had a casual chat with my friend, Joe Kosinski, who directed it, who I worked with twice now. I’m his biggest fan. I think he’s so great. [I talked to him] about the possibility of it, but I don’t know anything concrete.
At this point, it’s likely everybody is waiting on the Top Gun 3 script that Ehren Kruger is reportedly working on. Without a script, and one that everybody is on board with, there isn’t much of a path forward. Once they have that, however, it seems likely that Top Gun 3 will go into production as soon as possible. Fans and the studio both likely want this one in theaters soon.