We're still about a year away from the release of Top Gun: Maverick, but we do know some of the actors who are on the highway to the Danger Zone. So far the confirmed cast is made up of legacy characters from the original like Tom Cruise's Maverick and Val Kilmer's Iceman, as well as Miles Teller, who joins the franchise as Goose's son. Now the production is looking to add an Oscar-winning actress to this long-awaited sequel. She may have starred in The Rocketeer years ago, but Jennifer Connelly still has the need for speed and is being eyed to play the female-lead in Top Gun: Maverick.
Jennifer Connelly, who won an Oscar for her work in A Beautiful Mind, would play a single mother who runs a local bar near the Navy base where all the flyboy shenanigans are taking place. Negotiations are in the early stages, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but should she sign on, Jennifer Connelly would be the female lead in the film opposite Tom Cruise's Pete Mitchell. The actress has never worked with Tom Cruise before, but she has worked with Top Gun: Maverick's director Joseph Kosinski on last year's Only the Brave.
Just given the description of the character and her being the female lead, one has to assume that she will probably be the love interest for Tom Cruise's Maverick. This naturally begs the question, what about Charlotte Blackwood? The romance between Kelly McGillis' Charlie and Tom Cruise's Maverick was a big part of the first film, and when Top Gun ended, you presumed that they would be together. There is no guarantee that the role Jennifer Connelly is that of a love interest for Maverick, but presuming it is, that would seem to indicate that Kelly McGillis will not be in the film, and that Charlie and Maverick didn't wind up together after all. Sequels always complicate happily ever afters.
The expectations for Top Gun: Maverick are sky high, built up over thirty plus years, and even producer Jerry Bruckheimer has acknowledged that this sequel has to be good. And although there are bad films with great casts, adding great talent puts a film in a great position to succeed. Jennifer Connelly is a super talented actress, so she would be an awesome addition to Top Gun: Maverick. The character sounds fun too; a single mother running a bar near a Navy base probably has to deal with all kinds of nonsense, so she should be more than up to the task of sparring with Maverick.
Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters on July 12, 2019. You'll next be able to see Jennifer Connelly in Robert Rodriguez's Alita: Battle Angel, releasing in theaters on December 21. Check out our calendar for all of the biggest movies hitting theaters this year, and for all the latest in speed and the need for it, keep strapped in to CinemaBlend.
