Glen Powell doesn’t have many details about what fans can expect from Top Gun 3 — yet.
“There is going to be some fun stuff being announced soon but it was confidential to me,” Powell, 35, told Variety at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, January 21, while recalling his initial reaction to the development news. “People looked at me like I knew what was going on.”
Earlier this month, a report from Puck claimed that Paramount is currently working with Top Gun: Maverick cowriter Ehren Kruger on a script for a third movie. The outlet noted that discussions have also started with Maverick director Joseph Kosinski to return for the sequel alongside Tom Cruise (Pete “Maverick” Mitchell), Miles Teller (Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw) and Powell (Jake “Hangman” Seresin).
“I talk to [Joseph] Kosinski, Cruise and [producer] Jerry [Bruckheimer] all the time. There is stuff happening and it sounds very exciting,” Powell added on Sunday “I don’t know when I’ll be going back. I’m sure there is a jet waiting for me sometime in the future.”
Since appearing in Top Gun: Maverick, Powell has had nothing but praise for his costars including Cruise, 61, Teller, 36, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly and Jon Hamm. After helping bring the aviation film to life, Powell credited Cruise for helping him elevate his performance as Hangman.
Powell previously shared the advice he received from Cruise about sticking the landing on screen, telling Variety in December 2022, “Sometimes you can fall into the trap of wanting to be liked on camera. And in a movie like this, where you know there’s going to be a lot of eyes on it, you don’t want to be Draco Malfoy.”
According to Powell, Cruise also suggested he lean into being the antihero of the movie. “For the ending to work, you have to completely lean into that. Everybody else in the movie is questioning their own ability,” Powell added at the time. “You’re the only guy that’s not questioning it. So, if there’s any sort of apology in anything you say, the movie doesn’t work. Lean into the douchebaggery of it all.”
Top Gun originally debuted in 1996 before coming back more than three decades later with Top Gun: Maverick, which scored six Academy Award nominations.
After walking away with the trophy for Best Sound, a source told Us Weekly that Cruise was “over the moon” about the film’s success.
“Filmmaking for Tom these days is all about creating the whole package and making it work and make money, as opposed to having that one scene in the film where he cries or yells and generates the perfect ‘Oscars clip,’” the insider said in March 2023. “Tom has grown out of caring about that stuff, and in the process has grown into an absolutely killer businessman and producer.”
