Top Gun: Maverick feels the need for speed -- more motorcycle speed.
The Top Gun sequel is still filming, with Tom Cruise back as the now Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. Jennifer Connelly joined the cast of the 2020 film, and it looks like she literally has his back, as they're recreating a very memorable scene from the 1986 flick.
In the first film, Kelly McGillis played Charlie Blackwood, flight instructor and eventual Maverick love interest. In one scene, the romancing pair rode a Kawasaki Ninja GPz900R, adding to the cool factor of a movie already stacked with cool aviation stunts.
Well, who could resist proving they are still just as cool as they were 32 years ago? Not 56-year-old Tom Cruise. Cruise helped put Ninajs on the map three decades ago, and he hopped on a Ninja H2 for a new scene with Jennifer Connelly.
Leaked set photos are now speeding across social media, showing Tom Cruise back in aviator sunglasses and a bomber jacket, with a smiling Jennifer Connelly riding behind him. He looks almost exactly the same, which is pretty enviable.
The new set pics aren't official photos -- unlike that Day 1 shot of Cruise's Maverick that started a fresh Air Force vs. Navy feud. It's clear Maverick is going to be heavy on the nostalgia -- potentially even gracing fans with another volleyball scene -- and we have no complaints about that. Val Kilmer is returning as Iceman, with Miles Teller cast as the late Goose's son. The rest of the heavy-hitter cast includes Ed Harris, Jon Hamm, and Glen Powell.
So far, Cruise has just done a lot of teasing like that, purposefully keeping things vague. He recently told Entertainment Tonight, "There's gonna be jets, very fast jets. There's gonna be an aircraft carrier, maybe two. And a wide range of jets." Also, "It's gonna have music... We have a soundtrack. There's gonna be actors in it. [And a] motorcycle, definitely [a] motorcycle."
Well, we know about the motorcycle now. When Jennifer Connelly was first being eyed for the female lead, she was said to play a single mother who runs a local bar near the Navy base. Tom Cruise confirmed her involvement, but not her role, calling the Oscar winner "a great actress, obviously," and "very vibrant." He added to AOL, "When you see the film, you'll see why she's perfect for it."
Top Gun: Maverick is being directed by Joseph Kosinski, and it was recently revealed that Cruise's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and Fallout writer/director Christopher McQuarrie was also joining the team to punch up the script.
He should have plenty of time to help get it right, since Top Gun: Maverick recently delayed its highway to the danger zone from July 2019 to June 26, 2020. In the meantime, check out more on the Top Gun sequel, and bookmark our 2018 calendar for what's still ahead this year.
