Top Gun 3 is officially confirmed with Tom Cruise returning as Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, Paramount announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The 63-year-old Hollywood superstar will once again headline the action drama franchise after making the character iconic in Top Gun (1986) and the blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
While Jerry Bruckheimer will return as producer, director Joseph Kosinski has yet to sign on for this third installment. No other returning cast members have been confirmed yet, though the sequel has been a priority for Paramount since its merger with Skydance in 2025.
The Top Gun 3 confirmation follows the massive global success of Top Gun: Maverick, which earned $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office and received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The 2022 film resurrected theatrical business after the pandemic and followed up Tony Scott’s original released in 1986.
Tom Cruise was last seen in the “final” Mission: Impossible film and will next headline Digger, the much-anticipated new film from multiple Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu. The dark comedy was also previewed this week at CinemaCon and is set for an October 2026 release. With Digger up next and Top Gun 3 now confirmed, Tom Cruise continues his run of high-profile theatrical releases.