‘Top Gun 3’ in early development with Tom Cruise

LOS ANGELES

Tom Cruise is gearing up to fly back for a third installment of “Top Gun.” A script for another iteration of the high-octane aviation movie franchise is in the works at Paramount, an individual close to the project told CNN.

The film is in very early stages of development, but plans are underway for the sequel which will follow 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and the original “Top Gun” from 1986, the source said.

No deals are in place yet, but CNN has learned that the idea is to reunite the producers of the film – Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski – and given that the film would be a sequel to “Maverick,” Cruise’s younger co-stars, Miles Teller and Glen Powell, would conceivably also be back.

The script is not finalized, but a first draft is being developed by writer Ehren Kruger, who co-wrote “Top Gun: Maverick,” this source also said.

Developing another sequel is not a huge surprise, given the massive success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” which became the most lucrative film of Cruise’s career, grossing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide and nabbing six Oscar nominations, including for best picture and adapted screenplay (the movie won one Academy Award, for sound).

The news of the next “Top Gun” film comes after CNN reported earlier this week that Cruise recently signed a non-exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to develop and produce theatrical films.