It’s all happening. At CinemaCon 2026, Paramount confirmed that Top Gun 3 is in the works and it is really happening. Not too long ago, any kind of Top Gun sequel felt like just a pipe dream. But everyone, including us, absolutely LOVED Top Gun: Maverick, which means, yep, Top Gun 3 is on the way. Tom Cruise will almost definitely return for Top Gun 3 as Pete Mitchell, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer will as well.
Top Gun: Maverick told the story of Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he headed back to his flight school to help a new era of pilots learn how to run a mission. We also got to see the sun of “Goose,” Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, played by Miles Teller. Goose, of course, died in the first movie. At Nerdist, we gave Top Gun: Maverick a solid score 3.5/5 stars. We’ll have to see if Top Gun 3 can beat that.
We first heard about Top Gun 3 in 2024. And as of September 2025, Bruckheimer confirmed the movie was still in development. Previously, Tom Cruise stated, “Yeah, we’re thinking and talking about many different stories and what could we do and what’s possible. It took me 35 years to figure out Top Gun: Maverick, so all of these things we’re working on, we’re discussing Days of Thunder and Top Gun: Maverick. There’s numerous other films that we’re actively working on right now…” But this is the first time the movie has been officially presented as happening by Paramount.
For now, all we know about Top Gun 3 is that it’s happening and a script is in the works. We’ll have to stay tuned for more details on Tom Cruise’s next flight. If this Top Gun 3 news has you itching for the franchise, you can stream Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick on Paramount+ right now.
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