‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Director Joseph Kosinski Hints At Possible Sequel While Detailing Grueling Aerial Stunts

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski recently indicated that Maverick’s story isn’t over and a sequel could be in the works.

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Kosinski appeared alongside producer Jerry Bruckheimer at Deadline’s Contenders LA3C panel where he detailed that a sequel could already be in the works.

He said, “Is there another story that is compelling enough that we need to go back? It seems to me at the end of this film that Maverick has some gas left in the tank. He’s not settling down.”

DIRECTOR JOSEPH KOSINSKI ON THE SET OF TOP GUN: MAVERICK FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES, SKYDANCE AND JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS.

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Not only did he tease a sequel and that “Maverick has some gas left in the tank,” he discussed the grueling aerial stunts the film included and how all of the actors did their own stunts alongside Top Gun pilots.

Kosinski explained, “I knew we’d be able to get Tom on the plane, but we weren’t sure about the rest of the cast. So, Tom devised this three-month course for all the actors, to start with a very simple airplane and work their way up to the Navy jet.”

“They all were able to do all their scenes in the jets for real, which is just phenomenal because you can’t imagine how physically difficult it is to do what they’re doing. They’re flying with real Top Gun pilots. They’re doing the same maneuvers, even more intense maneuvers than they do in training,” he added.

GLEN POWELL PLAYS “HANGMAN” IN TOP GUN: MAVERICK FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES, SKYDANCE AND JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS.

Bruckheimer also noted the cast underwent water stunts, “They put them into a cage blindfolded, dump them in the water about six or eight feet down and turn them upside down.

He added, “They had to figure out how to get out of that cage.”

MONICA BARBARO PLAYS PHOENIX, LEWIS PULLMAN PLAYS BOB, JAY ELLIS PLAYS PAYBACK AND MILES TELLER PLAYS ROOSTER IN TOP GUN: MAVERICK FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES, SKYDANCE AND JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS.

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Back in 2019, Paramount Pictures promoted the film noting the actors were actually flying in the jets. It also shows footage of the actors in the jets and some of them appearing to get sick from the high intensity shots and training.

In the promo video, Cruise says, “You just can’t create this kind of experience unless you shoot it live.” 

He added, “In order for us to accomplish this, we have the greatest fighter pilots in the world working with us.”

Kosinski also revealed they were able to get the footage due to new camera system, “We’re working with a brand-new camera system that allows us to put six IMAX-quality cameras inside the cockpit with the actors.”

Bruckheimer also detailed that it was Cruise who got the actors to fly the planes, “Thanks to Tom, all the actors are becoming accustomed to the G-forces by all the training that they’re doing.”

Cruise elaborated, “It is aggressive. You can’t act that, the distortion in the face. They’re pulling seven and a half, eight Gs. That’s 1,600 pounds of force. I am so proud of them and what they’ve done. And it is heavy duty.”

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Top Gun: Maverick is the highest grossing film of the year. According to The-Numbers the film has brought in $718.5 million at the domestic box office and $770 million at the international box office for a worldwide total of $1.488 billion.

Top Gun: Maverick has an over $300 million advantage over the current second highest grossing film of the year at the domestic box office, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

It has an even larger advantage at the worldwide box office, where it outpaces Jurassic World: Dominion by nearly $500 million. Jurassic World Dominion has a worldwide gross of just over $1 billion.

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Would you want to see another Top Gun movie featuring Tom Cruise as Maverick?

NEXT: ‘Top Gun’ Producer Jerry Bruckheimer Explains What Made ‘Maverick’ Such A Hit

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