Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 American action drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski. It was written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, from a story conceived by Peter Craig and Justin Marks. It is the sequel to 1986's "Top Gun". Tom Cruise stars as the test pilot Maverick, alongside Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer. Cruise and Kilmer reprise their roles from the first film. The film premiered at CinemaCon on April 28, 2022, and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the  United States on May 27, 2022, by Paramount Pictures. It was scheduled for release on July 12, 2019, but was postponed to "allow the production to work out all the complex flight sequences". The film was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and scheduling conflicts. Early reviews of the film have been positive with acclaim for its cinematography, aerial sequences, emotional weight and a worthy successor to the original film. Premise. Test pilot Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell has purposely dodged an advancement in rank after thirty years of service. One day Maverick is called to be put in charge of  training a group of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission under the orders of his fellow naval aviator friend and former rival, Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who is the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Among them is Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late best friend Nick "Goose" Bradshaw. Production. Development. Development of the film began in 2010 when Paramount Pictures made offers to Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott to make a sequel to "Top Gun". Christopher McQuarrie had also received an offer to write the sequel's screenplay, which was rumored to have Tom  Cruise's character Maverick in a smaller role. Peter Craig, Justin Marks, who described the film as a dream project, Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz would be credited as screenwriters on the project. When asked about his idea for a new "Top Gun" film, Scott replied, "This world fascinated me, because it's so different from what it was originally. But I don't want to do a remake. I don't want to do a reinvention. I want to do a new movie." The film will reportedly focus on the end of the dogfighting era and the role  of drones in modern aerial warfare and that Cruise's character, Maverick, will fly an F/A-18 Super Hornet. After Scott's suicide, the sequel's future remained in question, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer remained committed to the project, especially given Cruise's and Kilmer's interest. In June 2017, Cruise revealed that the title would be "Top Gun: Maverick", with Harold Faltermeyer returning as composer for the sequel. Cruise further stated that, "Aviators are back, the need for speed. We're going to have big, fast machines. It's going to be a competition film, like the first one  … but a progression for Maverick." Later the same month, it was confirmed that the film would be directed by Joseph Kosinski, while no title was officially confirmed. Musician Kenny Loggins has confirmed that his song "Danger Zone", which was used in the first film, will be featured in the sequel. In October 2018, it was reported that Hans Zimmer would also compose for the film alongside Harold Faltermeyer. On April 27, 2022, Lady Gaga announced that she had written and recorded the song "Hold My Hand" which would serve as the film's theme song. The song, released as a  single on May 3, was co-written with Ben Rice and BloodPop. On June 19, 2019, at CineEurope in Barcelona, attendees were able to watch for the first time some early footage of the film from a special Paramount presentation. During the presentation the President of International Theatrical Distribution Mark Viane and co-president of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution Mary Daily appeared in flight clothes. Casting. Cruise's involvement in "Top Gun: Maverick" was first announced in January 2016. Val Kilmer had campaigned on his social media page that he would like to reprise his role in the film, and  by June 2018, "The Wrap" reported that he will appear in the film. While Bruckheimer and the filmmakers wanted to bring Kilmer back, Cruise was the one who tirelessly insisted in bringing back Kilmer to reprise his role. In the new trailer, released in March 2022, there was shown a photograph of Kilmer wearing a uniform of a Four-Star Admiral. In July 2018, Miles Teller was cast in the role of Goose's son, against Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell. All three were flown to Cruise's home for chemistry tests. Later that month, Jennifer Connelly joined the film 's cast to play a single mother running a bar near the Naval base. In August 2018, Powell joined the cast of the film in a pilot trainee role that was enlarged for him, having impressed Cruise, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, as well as executives at Paramount Pictures and Skydance, with his auditions. That same month, Monica Barbaro, Thomasin McKenzie, Charles Parnell, Jay Ellis, Bashir Salahuddin, Danny Ramirez, Ed Harris, Jon Hamm and Lewis Pullman joined the cast of the film with Barbaro, Ellis, and Ramirez portraying pilot trainees and McKenzie portraying Connelly's daughter. In September 2018, Manny Jacinto joined  the cast of the film. In October 2018, Kara Wang, Jack Schumacher, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Jean Louisa Kelly and Lyliana Wray joined the cast of the film. Additionally, McKenzie was forced to drop out of the film after signing onto "Lost Girls". In November 2018, Chelsea Harris joined the cast of the film in an undisclosed role. According to Kelly McGillis, who appeared in the original film, she was not asked to appear in the sequel. Filming. Preliminary production on the film officially started on May 30, 2018, in San Diego, California. During late August a  15-person film crew from Paramount and Bruckheimer Films were aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier to shoot flight deck operations. In mid-February 2019, Cruise and the production crew were sighted on board at NAS North Island. In March, filming was completed at NAS Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, Washington. On June 19, 2019, Miles Teller revealed in an interview that he had finished filming two days earlier. Principal photography was scheduled until April 15, 2019, in San Diego, California; Lemoore, California; China Lake, California; Lake Tahoe, California; Seattle, Washington; and Patuxent River, Maryland. The movie was filmed in  IMAX format using IMAX-Certified Sony Venice 6K Full Screen cameras. Marketing. The film's first trailer premiered during a surprise appearance by Cruise at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con on July 18, 2019. The first trailer received high praise from fans, with many lauding the return of the series and some comparing it to "". "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that some fans noticed that the flag of the Republic of China (the flag used by the government of Taiwan) and the Flag of Japan were missing from the bomber jacket of Cruise's character and accused Paramount of  removing it to appease China-based co-financier Tencent Pictures. In February 2020, toy manufacturer Matchbox company (owned by Mattel) announced that they were releasing a series of "Top Gun" die-cast models and products, including an F-14 Tomcat, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, North American P-51 Mustang and role play items. They were scheduled for public release on June 1, 2020, despite the delayed theatrical release. In June 2020, plastic model manufacturer Revell company released a series of 1/48 scale "Top Gun" plastic models, including an F-14A Tomcat and an F/A-18E Super Hornet based upon the aircraft  in the movie. These are versions of previous Revell offerings with modified decals and markings. In July 2020, Hasbro announced a "Top Gun" themed Transformers toy, "Maverick", which released later in the year. In August 2021, the first 13 minutes of the film were previewed at CinemaCon along with a new trailer with Tom Cruise marking his presence virtually at the event. In February 2022, a trailer of the film tied to Porsche was aired before Super Bowl LVI. In April 2022, Project ACES, the developers of the "Ace Combat" series, announced the release of an aircraft collaboration DLC for   with "Top Gun: Maverick" on their official Twitter, with more details to follow at an unspecified date. Release. "Top Gun: Maverick" is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 27, 2022. It was originally scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures on July 12, 2019. In August 2018, it was delayed to June 26, 2020, to "allow the production to work out all the complex flight sequences". On March 2, 2020, Paramount moved the film up two days early on June 24, 2020. On April 2, 2020, it was delayed to December 23 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic  declared by the World Health Organization. On July 23, 2020, the film was delayed again to July 2, 2021, due in part to scheduling conflicts with Cruise, as well as the recent delays of "Mulan" and "Tenet" due to the rise of COVID-19 cases. In April 2021, the film was delayed again to November 19, 2021. On September 1, 2021, the film was delayed once more, this time to May 27, 2022. The film had its world premiere at CinemaCon on April 28, 2022. A global premiere will be hosted in a retired aircraft carrier in San Diego, California, on  May 4. It will also have a screening at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18 in an Official Selection Screening. The Cannes premiere will include a tribute to Cruise and his career. Netflix and Apple TV+ attempted to purchase the distribution rights to the film, but Paramount refused to sell them; Bruckheimer, when asked about them and other streaming services attempting to purchase the distribution rights to the film at the film's premiere at CinemaCon, said that there was no other option and that the film had always been a big-screen destination. Reception. Box office projections. In  the United States and Canada, "Top Gun: Maverick" will be released alongside "The Bob's Burgers Movie", and is projected to gross $95-130 million during its opening weekend.<ref>