More than three decades after Tom Cruise first climbed behind the wheel as Cole Trickle, Days of Thunder is heading back to the big screen. Cruise and Anne Hathaway have announced plans for a follow-up to the 1990 NASCAR drama, giving fans of the original another legacy sequel to look forward to.
According to the Los Angeles Times, The Days of Thunder sequel will bring Cruise back as the ambitious race car driver who became one of his defining early roles. Hathaway is joining the story as a team owner and engineer, while Paramount Pictures plans to shoot the movie in IMAX ahead of an expected summer 2028 release.
‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel Reunites Tom Cruise With Jerry Bruckheimer
Jonathan Levine, whose credits include “Warm Bodies” and “Long Shot,” will direct the new film. Cruise will also produce alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper. The project marks another collaboration between Cruise and Bruckheimer after the enormous success of 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” which revived another Cruise classic decades after its original release.
That connection makes the new project especially intriguing. “Top Gun: Maverick” arrived 36 years after “Top Gun” and became a worldwide box office phenomenon, earning roughly $1.5 billion. Now, Cruise and Bruckheimer appear ready to revisit another high-speed favorite from the actor’s past, this time trading fighter jets for stock cars.
The 1990 Original Became a Memorable Part of Cruise’s Career
Released in 1990, Days of Thunder followed NASCAR driver Cole Trickle and starred Tom Cruise alongside Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman, and others. The film earned $157.9 million worldwide and also introduced Cruise to Kidman, whom he later married. Anne Hathaway now joins the new movie as a team owner and engineer, adding another major star to the sequel.
For longtime fans, the Days of Thunder sequel offers a chance to see what became of Cole Trickle decades after the checkered flag fell on the original story. Cruise has already shown that a familiar character can return without simply repeating the past, and the involvement of Bruckheimer adds another link to that successful formula. The movie is still years away, but the combination of Cruise, Hathaway, NASCAR, and IMAX already gives the project plenty of nostalgic appeal. More than 35 years after Cole Trickle first raced onto movie screens, Days of Thunder is preparing to start its engine once again.