Christopher McQuarrie, the mastermind behind Top Gun: Maverick’s blockbuster success, dropped a bombshell on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast Monday, revealing that the story for Top Gun 3 is already locked in. “It’s in the bag,” McQuarrie declared, adding, “It wasn’t hard. I thought it would be, and that’s a good place to go from.” With Tom Cruise set to strap back in as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and a narrative framework crafted alongside Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger, the third installment of the high-flying franchise is taking shape faster than a Mach 10 jet. Paramount, riding high off Maverick’s $1.4 billion global haul, greenlit the threequel in January 2024, and McQuarrie’s latest comments signal it’s ready to taxi toward production.
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The 2022 sequel redefined the Top Gun legacy, blending jaw-dropping aerial sequences with a gut-punch story about Maverick mentoring a new generation, including Miles Teller’s Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw. McQuarrie, who wrote and produced Maverick, emphasized that emotion, not just action, is the franchise’s fuel. “It’s not the action. It’s the emotion,” he told Horowitz, hinting that Top Gun 3 will lean into the same heartstring-tugging stakes, likely centered on Maverick’s evolving bonds with Rooster and possibly Glen Powell’s Jake “Hangman” Seresin. Sources confirm Teller and Powell are expected to return, with Joseph Kosinski likely back to direct. McQuarrie, deep in collaboration with Cruise on projects like a Days of Thunder sequel, played coy about helming, quipping, “I’ve done a lot of research into how to make a Tony Scott movie.”
How did the Top Gun 3 story come together so fast? McQuarrie credited a single conversation with Kruger. “Ehren pitched something, and I went, ‘Mhm, actually,’ and we had one conversation about it,” he said. “The framework is there.” While plot details remain classified, the speed of the breakthrough has fans buzzing on X, with posts like, “McQuarrie’s got Top Gun 3 ready to roll? Take my money now!” Another user raved, “If it’s got Maverick’s heart, it’s gonna soar.” Some, though, wonder how the story will top Maverick’s near-perfect arc.
No release date is confirmed, but with the story set and Cruise’s relentless pace—he’s also cooking up a Tropic Thunder Les Grossman spinoff—a 2027 landing seems plausible. For now, McQuarrie’s confidence has Top Gun fans ready to feel the need for speed all over again.