36 years on, Tom Cruise’s Days of Thunder sequel finally moves ahead

Trust Hollywood to keep spinning the nostalgia wheel, eh? Legacy sequels are absolutely everywhere at the moment—most of them get talked about for ages with nothing whatsoever to show for it, and a good number are, frankly, wishful thinking. But every so often, one of these 'surely never happening' projects suddenly lurches forward, petrol fumes and all. Enter Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer, and the surprisingly determined resurrection of Days of Thunder.

Paramount has now made a proper move to get this sequel off the grid. Jonathan Levine (who did 50/50 and Warm Bodies, if you were wondering) is in talks to direct, with Cruise slipping back into the Nomex to play Cole Trickle. Bruckheimer’s back as producer, so you’re getting the original creative DNA—just with a new bloke at the wheel.

Not Just 'Top Gun with Cars'

The original Days of Thunder (1990) was always a bit overshadowed—less endlessly quoted than Top Gun, always in the shadow of that volleyball scene, really. But it had its loyal fans: Cruise, Tony Scott, and Bruckheimer swapping out fighter jets for NASCAR, telling the story of a hot-headed rookie learning to keep things steady on (and off) the track. For years it was considered a curio, but recently it’s enjoyed a resurgence as a low-key classic—one of the more interesting oddities on Tom Cruise’s CV.

The tide started turning properly after Top Gun: Maverick became a pandemic-era megahit—turning an old action film into Paramount’s highest-grossing movie ever, at nearly $1.5 billion worldwide. All of a sudden, racing back to Cole Trickle’s heyday didn’t seem so mad after all.

The sequel crawled out of 'maybe one day' territory after Cruise started openly talking about it in 2024.

All Systems Go—Mostly

• Cruise first dropped hints about a sequel in 2024—turns out he’s been actively 'thinking of ideas' for a while now.
• Ex-NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, now at Hendrick Motorsports, says he bumped into Cruise at a Mission: Impossible premiere last year. Apparently, Cruise didn’t mince his words: 'We're doing it. We're doing Days of Thunder 2.'
• Tony Scott is obviously the massive missing piece—his hyperactive, sun-soaked visual style defined the original. Levine is a totally different director (more character drama than kinetic action), but that might just be what keeps the sequel from being a tired retread.
• The script’s in the hands of Will Staples, who’s written for games (including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3) and did a bit of work on Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. No strangers to Cruise-themed chaos, then.
• There is, unfortunately, no chance of seeing Robert Duvall return—he died in 2024, so Trickle’s legendary crew chief Harry Hogge will be missing.
• No official word yet on whether Nicole Kidman, Cary Elwes, Michael Rooker, Randy Quaid or John C. Reilly are coming back—honestly, it sounds totally up in the air.

This isn’t just another rumour—Cruise and Bruckheimer are pushing this all the way to the chequered flag, and for once, it's actually picking up proper speed.