“Top Gun: Maverick” Director Opens Up About Convincing Tom Cruise To Film A Sequel

During a recent chat with Polygon, “Top Gun: Maverick”director Joe Kosinski talked about persuading Tom Cruise to reprise his role in the hugely successful franchise sequel.

Tom Cruise, 59, was initially adamant that he won’t be filming another “Top Gun” movie, but a good pitch helped him change his mind. With Cruise’s “real movie star”, they were able to get Paramount Pictures onboard for another run of “Top Gun”.

Tom Cruise Loved “Top Gun: Maverick’” Pitch So Much He Jumped Onboard For A Sequel

The “Mission Impossible” star reprised his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the newly released sequel to 1986’s “Top Gun”, which marked the biggest opening weekend box office of Cruise’s career when it dropped last Friday.

Johnny Depp Not In Court – Here’s Why

View Story

“I basically had 30 minutes to pitch this film, which I didn’t realize when we were flying over,” Kosinski recalled of flying over to Paris to discuss plans of a potential sequel with Cruise, who was filming a “Mission: Impossible” movie in the French capital at the time. “But when I got there, I found that Tom really didn’t want to make another Top Gun.”

“At the end of the pitch, he picked up the phone, he called the head of Paramount Pictures and said, ‘We’re making another Top Gun,’ ” Kosinski told Polygon. “It’s pretty impressive to see the power of a real movie star in that moment.”

Detailing how he was able to change the star’s mind, Kosinski said that knowing Cruise, he “knew to start with character and emotion.”

Tom Cruise Escorts Kate Middleton – Hollywood Royalty Meets Royal Familyhttps://t.co/boMm9KZVnE#TomCruise #KateMiddleton #RoyalFamily

— SOS/CTS/HH (@SoapOperaSpy) May 26, 2022

“I just pitched this idea of Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller) growing up to become a naval aviator, and him and Maverick having this fractured relationship that had never been repaired,” he said of the character who is the son of Maverick’s late best friend Goose.

“With Maverick getting called back to train this group of students to go on a mission that he knows is very, very dangerous,” Kosinski said.

The director was also confident that the sequel was able to use conflict to leverage “the emotion of the past film and those relationships that we all love, but took it in a new direction.”

As for the part that sold Tom Cruise into reprising a role he first played over three decades ago, Kosinski said that the “emotional reason” was “honestly the element that really grabbed Tom.”

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Tom Cruise right now. Come back here often for all Tom Cruise spoilers, news, and updates.

Editorial credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com