With Tony Scott now confirmed to be moving forward on a a sequel to his 1986 Top Gun, HitFix had a chance to talk with the director about the project, still in the earliest planning stages.
Scott explained that his plan for the follow-up is to chart the development of the Air Force fighter pilot into the present day, inspired partially by a young Air Force pilot he met on a flight who runs drone simulations. In contrast to Tom Cruise’s character in the first film, the sequel will explore the evolution of the remote-control pilot.
Still unconfirmed is whether or not Cruise will return to his star-making role of Maverick as well as when, exactly, the sequel will move forward. As it stands, the script for the film appears to still be in the research phase (with Christopher McQuarrie approached to write the first draft) and Scott made clear that it would not be his very next production.
Scott’s next release, Unstoppable, hits theaters on November 12th.
