Jennifer Connelly is joining Tom Cruise in Paramount and Skydance’s sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Oblivion director Joe Kosinski is directing the film, a sequel to the 1986 original. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the first film with the late Don Simpson, will produce with Cruise and Skydance CEO David Ellison.
This latest project will be set in a world of drone technology and will explore the end of the era of dogfighting, with Cruise portraying a flight instructor. In late May, Cruise posted a photo of himself in front of what appeared to be a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Only the Brave star Miles Teller has been tapped to play the son of the Goose character and Maverick’s new protege. Goose was played by Anthony Edwards as the co-pilot to Cruise’s Maverick character in the original. Val Kilmer will reprise his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the sequel, which is set to be released on July 12, 2019.
The original film was a massive success with more than $350 million in worldwide grosses on a $15 million budget. Paramount confirmed the casting Friday but gave no details on Connelly’s role. The part is believed to be that of a single mother who runs a bar near the air base. She most recently starred in Only The Brave and will appear in the upcoming Alita: Battle Angel.
