Tom Cruise is nothing if not a dedicated artist to his craft. Sure, that might entail insanely high insurance premiums and month-long delays in production due to the occasional injury, but the man insists on bringing only his A game to whatever movie he’s shooting.
That includes “Top Gun: Maverick,” which is the official name for the sequel to the classic action movie that came out about 3 decades ago. It turns out a recent rumor about Cruise wanting to learn to actually fly fighter jets is true.
The rumor came from the British tabloid The Sun, which cited an unnamed production source. It also said that Cruise’s decision had caused a serious delay to the production, which would translate into a delayed release date.
The CEO of Paramount Pictures, Jim Gianopulos, is keeping mum on that, but he does confirm the first part of the rumor: Tom Cruise will be doing most of the flying in the film, including of the military jets. He can now add another notch on his belt, right there to riding motorcycles, driving cars, jumping out of planes and doing most of the actual stunts his character is shown doing in the film.
Speaking to the Daily Mail at a recent industry event, Gianopulos says that Cruise insists on doing most of his stunts because he “needs” to. He wants to deliver convincing content, and that rules out the possibility of using stunt doubles or shooting against a green screen and adding CGI later. This is also what will put him in the pilot seat, flying a fighter jet in “Top Gun 2.”
“There's nothing like seeing Tom hanging from the top of the tallest building on the planet Earth, or driving a helicopter, which even the helicopter company was unsure the craft could do,” Gianopulos says of his star, adding that he is “extraordinary.”
“He's in the middle of Top Gun now and he's taking the cast, he's showing them what Gs are and what it is to fly in some of these incredibly fast airplanes. So it's going to be a very exciting ride so to speak,” the CEO adds, while admitting he doesn’t want to think of the insurance premiums because he has all faith in Cruise.
If production stays on course, the film will be out in June 2020.
The rumor came from the British tabloid The Sun, which cited an unnamed production source. It also said that Cruise’s decision had caused a serious delay to the production, which would translate into a delayed release date.
The CEO of Paramount Pictures, Jim Gianopulos, is keeping mum on that, but he does confirm the first part of the rumor: Tom Cruise will be doing most of the flying in the film, including of the military jets. He can now add another notch on his belt, right there to riding motorcycles, driving cars, jumping out of planes and doing most of the actual stunts his character is shown doing in the film.
Speaking to the Daily Mail at a recent industry event, Gianopulos says that Cruise insists on doing most of his stunts because he “needs” to. He wants to deliver convincing content, and that rules out the possibility of using stunt doubles or shooting against a green screen and adding CGI later. This is also what will put him in the pilot seat, flying a fighter jet in “Top Gun 2.”
“There's nothing like seeing Tom hanging from the top of the tallest building on the planet Earth, or driving a helicopter, which even the helicopter company was unsure the craft could do,” Gianopulos says of his star, adding that he is “extraordinary.”
“He's in the middle of Top Gun now and he's taking the cast, he's showing them what Gs are and what it is to fly in some of these incredibly fast airplanes. So it's going to be a very exciting ride so to speak,” the CEO adds, while admitting he doesn’t want to think of the insurance premiums because he has all faith in Cruise.
If production stays on course, the film will be out in June 2020.