Jay Ellis, the actor who shared the screen alongside Tom Cruise and Miles Teller as Lieutenant Reuben “Payback” Fitch in Top Gun: Maverick
, has offered a positive update on the highly anticipated sequel. Per Ellis, Top Gun 3 is gearing up to take flight, with writers currently working on the script. Top Gun: Maverick was one of the most important and successful movies to come out in the post-COVID-19 era. After its release, you would have thought that a sequel was the obvious next step for Paramount Pictures and star Tom Cruise. Nevertheless, it appears they don’t want to rush the film for the sake of a cash grab. Cruise cares about his stories, and writer Ehren Kruger is likely in tune with finding the right one.
Ellis, who has also appeared in films like Escape Room, Somebody I Used to Know and TV shows like Insecure, offered the encouraging update recently. At first, he joked about the sequel, but then offered some information as to the status of production: “So here’s what the story’s going to be. It’s going to be “Payback.” No, no, in all honesty, they’re still working on the script. They’re still working on the story. They’re wanting to get it right.” Ellis continues:
“You know, Tom [Cruise] is a stickler, and that really comes from him wanting to make sure the audience gets what they paid for and that they’re entertained. [So] that for those two hours, they can fully disappear in this theater, and the world around them doesn’t exist anymore, and [be] fully entertained. That’s where the focus is.
[It’s also about] really making sure that this story is not done just to make a movie, but made because these characters are going to make people lean in.”
Related
Top Gun Maverick: 10 Reasons it Surpasses the Original
As one of the biggest action films in recent cinematic history, here’s why Top Gun: Maverick ended up better than the original.
Top Gun 3 has been in development since early 2024. Paramount Pictures greenlit the sequel in January and confirmed Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski were set to return. Glen Powell and Miles Teller, co-stars in the sequel, are also returning to reprise their roles as Hangman and Rooster, the two pilots joining Cruise’s Maverick in fighting the baddies with impressive aerial maneuvers.
Can ‘Top Gun 3’ Be as Successful as ‘Top Gun: Maverick’?
Paramount Pictures
2022’s Top Gun: Maverick was a major blockbuster, the first after the COVID-19 pandemic majorly affected the way people go to the cinema. However, Cruise reprising a role from 36 years ago was exciting enough to convince people to return to movie theaters to return to the danger zone. It made approximately $1.5 billion at the box office and became the second highest-grossing film of the year, only to be topped by James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. Maverick was not only a successful film with audiences. The critical reception was great as well. It received six nominations at the Academy Awards (including Best Picture), and won the Oscar for Best Sound.
Topping the success of Top Gun: Maverick is not going to be easy. The sequel was an impressive feature that proved Cruise is at the top of his game, and he doesn’t only do mind-bending stunts as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise. He can also participate in compelling films with strong characters. Failure is not an option, and they just want to try and make something better, as difficult as that may be.
Source: US Weekly
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