MOVIE NEWS – Top Gun: Maverick was an unexpected box office hit, but whether there will be a sequel, i.e. Top Gun 3, is still up in the air.

The continued success of Top Gun: Maverick at the box office has raised questions about further films in the franchise being considered. While the phenomenal success of the belated sequel to the 1986 film has certainly reignited interest in the Tom Cruise-led film, would the nostalgia that helped make the sequel so successful continue into a third film? For producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the possibility of a Top Gun 3 simply depends on… if it happens.

When Top Gun: Maverick finally hit theaters this year after a long Covid delay, no one expected it to not only top the box office for weeks and become the highest-grossing film of the year, but also the highest-grossing film of all time jumped up to #12 globally and #6, ahead of the massive Avengers: Infinity War, on the domestic chart. Of course, such success always comes with the burden of expecting a sequel to follow immediately, but in the case of the Top Gun franchise, this may not be the case.

While there are plenty of rumors about sequels, spin-offs, and even a TV series, Jerry Bruckheimer isn’t revealing his cards when it comes to a sequel to this year’s biggest movie. In an interview with Radio Times, the producer said this about the possibility of Top Gun 3:

“I can’t say what the future holds. If you had asked me in ’86, ‘Do you think there will be a sequel in a few years?’ I would have said maybe. But it took thirty-odd years to get it done! “

While this year is expected to be a big year for Marvel Studios at the box office, sequels Doctor Strange: Into the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder have been tipped to be the top-grossing films of the year alongside the likes of Jurassic World : Dominion, no one really saw Top Gun: Maverick has a real chance to topple the blockbuster of the year.

Top Gun was a big hit in 1986, but it couldn’t surpass other films of the decade in terms of reviews or box office. As such, it was thought that Top Gun: Maverick would join other legacy sequels that were nostalgic hits for many older fans and did well enough to warrant a film. Instead, the film grossed more than $1.4 billion and now looks set to be a hit again on digital home release and the remaining Blu-ray and DVD releases.

For Tom Cruise, the film has become the biggest cinema success of all time, which can also be said about Paramount Pictures, but the actor is not resting on his laurels, and soon in the two-part film Mission: Impossible – Deadly Showdown, which may be his last M:I film he may or may not, and he has tons of other movies in the works. For that reason alone, it’s conceivable that another Top Gun sequel could be made at some point, but most likely not with Cruise involved, and that would probably be a big mistake.

Source: Movieweb