Top Gun 3 Just Got Grounded: New Update Points to a Long Delay
Top Gun 3 has hit turbulence: even with Joseph Kosinski back in the cockpit and Tom Cruise returning as Pete Maverick Mitchell alongside writers Christopher McQuarrie and Ehren Kruger, fresh development updates suggest the sequel is still a long way from takeoff.
If you were hoping to see Maverick back in the cockpit anytime soon, pump the brakes. Top Gun 3 is still happening, but the runway just got a lot longer.
Where things stand
Paramount kicked off development on Top Gun 3 in early 2024, with Tom Cruise set to return as Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and Joseph Kosinski lined up to direct again. The writing team from Top Gun: Maverick, Christopher McQuarrie and Ehren Kruger, is also back. On paper, it is a priority for the newly merged Paramount/Skydance operation, with David Ellison and Skydance still heavily involved.
The scheduling problem (and it is a big one)
Kosinski has stacked his calendar. He signed on to direct Universal's Miami Vice reboot, dated for August 6, 2027. Casting on that is already moving, with production targeting 2026. On top of that, he is directing a UFO conspiracy thriller for Apple Studios and is circling a potential F1 sequel.
- Early 2024: Paramount starts developing Top Gun 3 with Cruise, Kosinski, McQuarrie, and Kruger aboard.
- 2026: Miami Vice plans to film, with a locked release date of August 6, 2027.
- Also on Kosinski's board: an Apple UFO conspiracy thriller and a possible F1 sequel.
- Result: Top Gun 3 is unlikely before 2028, and 2029 looks more realistic if Kosinski stays attached.
- Paramount still has not announced an official release date.
Why Paramount still cares
Kosinski's stock exploded after Top Gun: Maverick made $1.4 billion worldwide and pulled six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. He followed that with Apple's F1, which hauled in more than $623 million globally. The studio is sticking with Cruise and this franchise for the long haul.
In August 2025, Paramount CEO David Ellison essentially said the company plans to stay in the Tom Cruise business for as long as Cruise wants to keep telling stories.
The age factor nobody can ignore
Cruise is 63 now. If Kosinski knocks out Miami Vice first and then tackles his other commitments, Top Gun 3 could land when Cruise is closer to 70. That matters when your signature sequences are punishing aerial set pieces that require serious physical work and real cockpit time. There is a path to speed things up: Cruise tends to lean on trusted collaborators, and if Paramount decides not to wait for Kosinski, McQuarrie is the obvious in-house option to keep the jets in the air.
The bottom line
Top Gun 3 is still a go, just not soon. Unless Paramount reshuffles or hands the controls to someone else, brace for a wait that stretches into 2028 at the earliest — with 2029 feeling like the safer bet.