Top Gun: Maverick made it plain that a property from decades past can be turned into billion-dollar cinematic gold, and in the aftermath of that success Hollywood has been on the prowl for the next legacy sequel to add to Tom Cruise’s resume. After some time spent in behind-the-scenes talks, Paramount Pictures is now ready to put the pedal to the metal on a long-overdue follow-up to the 1990 NASCAR thriller Days of Thunder. They have even, by all accounts, secured a director.
According to the trades, Jonathan Levine is in talks to take the helm. The filmmaker who gave us 50/50 and Long Shot is set to produce with Jerry Bruckheimer while Cruise comes back as the hotshot Cole Trickle. It is shaping up to be his next big project after Digger, the dark comedy from Alejandro G. Iñárritu that is on the way.
Shifting Gears
One cannot underestimate the task of making a Days of Thunder sequel. Tony Scott’s original was a pop-culture fixture that pulled in $157 million worldwide, but it had a very particular look thanks to the late visionary’s hand: Hans Zimmer’s score, over-the-top camera work and colors so saturated they were the hallmark of an early-90s blockbuster. To put a stamp on the film like Scott did is a creative challenge.
Paramount seems to have opted for something different in casting Levine rather than an action clone to copy Scott’s maximalism. With a reputation for human-scale storytelling and narrative bite, the director points to a more character-based approach. One could say the studio is looking for the kind of emotional maturity that Top Gun: Maverick struck such a chord with, and not just empty nostalgia.
The Confidence Behind the Steering Wheel
There is reason for Paramount’s faith in him. Word is that his sports drama Mr. Irrelevant has been well received in early test viewings, which has no doubt put Levine in good standing with Cruise’s franchise operation. On top of that, a script from Will Staples has cleared the way for pre-production to get underway. Details are being kept close to the vest for now, including whether you might see Nicole Kidman or Cary Elwes again, but the pieces are coming together.
In the end, this is a high-reward play for the studio. The box office has shown there is an appetite for motorsport and fast-paced spectacle, and Cruise knows how to make a legacy sequel work. Should Levine be able to bring his grounded sensibilities to the world of racing, he may well show that Cole Trickle still has some horsepower to spare.