Okay so Days of Thunder 2 is genuinely happening. Not in the "Hollywood is talking about it" way that never goes anywhere, but in the "this is Tom Cruise's next movie and filming could start in early 2027" way. Paramount has been circling this one for a while, and now they have their director, with Jonathan Levine in negotiations to take the wheel.
If that name doesn't immediately ring a bell, his movies probably do. Levine directed 50/50, the Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen cancer dramedy that somehow made you laugh and cry in the same ten minutes. He did Warm Bodies, the zombie love story that should not have worked but absolutely did. He made Long Shot with Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen. The guy has one of the most genuinely varied filmographies in Hollywood, and none of his movies feel like they came from the same person, which is honestly the best thing you can say about a director Paramount is handing a major IP to.
The reason Paramount is trusting him with this is his upcoming sports drama Mr. Irrelevant, which stars David Corenswet as John Tuggle, the last player picked in the 1983 NFL Draft. That movie drops Christmas Day and has been scoring some of the highest test screening numbers the studio has seen in years. So giving Levine Days of Thunder 2 right after is Paramount basically saying they like what they see and want to keep him close.
The script comes from Will Staples, who co-wrote the Michael B. Jordan action movie Without Remorse. Plot details are still locked down tight, but Cruise is returning as Cole Trickle and producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the original and more recently shepherded Top Gun: Maverick to 1.5 billion dollars worldwide. The sequel conversation actually picked up serious momentum after the F1 movie became one of the biggest sports films ever made, and it's hard not to see Days of Thunder 2 as Paramount wanting another piece of that racing energy.
The original movie was a reunion of Cruise with his Top Gun director Tony Scott. It made $157 million globally in 1990 on a $60 million budget, which at the time felt modest compared to Top Gun but has since taken on a life of its own as a genuine cult favorite. It's the movie where Cruise met Nicole Kidman. Robert Duvall, who passed away earlier this year, played his crew chief. It's a good movie that people tend to underestimate. If you haven't seen it in a while, it's streaming on Paramount Plus and it holds up better than you'd expect.
Levine is a smart choice here precisely because he's not an obvious one. He knows how to make you care about a character before he puts them in danger, and that's exactly what a legacy sequel needs. The Maverick comparison is going to follow this project everywhere, and it should, because that's the template. But Levine's instinct for heart over spectacle could make this something a little different.
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