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Paramount Greenlights Tom Cruise Days of Thunder Sequel

7/23/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Paramount Pictures is greenlighting a Days of Thunder sequel with Tom Cruise (actor) returning as Cole Trickle and producing with Jerry Bruckheimer (producer).
Jonathan Levine (director) is in talks to direct the sequel.
Will Staples (screenwriter) wrote the script for the sequel.
Paramount hopes the sequel will match the $1.5 billion worldwide gross of Top Gun: Maverick and cites the 2025 film F1’s $634 million earnings as a benchmark.

History

Historical Context

In June 1990 Paramount released Tony Scott’s racing drama Days of Thunder, starring Tom Cruise, which earned $157.9 million worldwide and marked the studio’s first major auto-sport hit after the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun. Scott’s 2012 death shifted studios toward producer-driven projects, a trend Bruckheimer revived by greenlighting a sequel that aims to echo the $1.4 billion success of Top Gun: Maverick.

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Story summary

Paramount Pictures is greenlighting a Days of Thunder sequel with Tom Cruise (actor) returning as Cole Trickle and producing with Jerry Bruckheimer (producer).
Jonathan Levine (director) is in talks to direct the sequel.
Will Staples (screenwriter) wrote the script for the sequel.
Paramount hopes the sequel will match the $1.5 billion worldwide gross of Top Gun: Maverick and cites the 2025 film F1’s $634 million earnings as a benchmark.

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