Tom Cruise announces follow-up film to ‘Days of Thunder’

Tom Cruise stood up from his chair in front of 40 race-car drivers, jumped over a row of potted plants and directly onto a stage. It was his first of many stunts to come at Daytona International Speedway. The 64-year-old Cruise announced on Saturday he will reprise his role as NASCAR driver Cole Trickle in a follow-up to “Days of Thunder.” He waved the green flag on it hours before the Cup Series’ regular-season finale at Daytona and then showed up for the pre-race drivers’ meeting.

“It’s not just about racing,” Cruise told the packed room that included NASCAR executives, fans, corporate sponsors and military personnel. “It’s about the community and the people here. There’s something very special about racers and the whole community. It’s a culture, and I was very proud to be able to reflect that in the first ‘Days of Thunder,’ and I am honoured to share it with the world.

“That’s basically what we’re going to really go for with this one. Give the audience that opportunity to understand what it is as a team, as a community, what it is for NASCAR, and the speed, the excitement and all that danger and stuff.”

Anne Hathaway will co-star as a team owner and engineer in the film scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures on June 2, 2028. Cruise will serve as a producer alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper. Jonathan Levine is set to direct the script written by Will Staples. Bruckheimer, Harper and Staples joined Cruise at the drivers’ meeting. Cruise posed for pictures with anyone who asked and shook hands with military members before getting whisked away in a black SUV. He was expected to spend some time during the race on pit road – about as close to the action as possible without being behind the wheel.

The Hollywood Reporter reported in November 2024 that Cruise had talked to Paramount about a follow-up to his 1990 NASCAR racing film. The original was a critically panned summer blockbuster that was largely lampooned throughout the NASCAR industry for its exaggeration and overindulgence. It has since become a cult favourite in NASCAR circles and is still quoted by race fans to this day.

“Rubbin,’ son, is racin’” – the immortal line from crew chief Harry Hogge, played by Robert Duvall – still lives on today. Riding high from his “Top Gun” fame and having grown up racing cars on the “back streets of Kentucky,” Cruise had an idea for a movie based on fast cars and the characters who raced them. And so began the making of “Days of Thunder.”

Cole Trickle was loosely based on the late NASCAR driver Tim Richmond. Four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, now vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports, openly lobbied for Cruise to bring a “Days of Thunder” sequel to life.

Gordon and Cruise have become friends over the years - Cruise showed up at a 2015 NASCAR banquet to honor the retiring Gordon - which could boost the prospect of Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports’ involvement in a sequel.

The movie introduced NASCAR to a wider audience that had very limited exposure to stock-car racing before that summer. There had been racing movies before - think “Thunder Road,” “The Last American Hero,” “Grand Prix,” “Stroker Ace,” or even “Smokey and the Bandit” - but none that had depicted NASCAR in such a mainstream style.

NASCAR has seen more swings and misses than checkered flags when it comes to its portrayal on the big or small screen since “Days of Thunder.” For every “Talladega Nights,” there are 10 more bombs such as comedian Kevin James’ ill-fated Netflix’s comedy series, “ The Crew.” Cruise is a safe bet to deliver a hit – and to handle many of his own stunts. He did when in the original and still recalled a memorable one at Daytona.

Associated Press