Top Gun: Maverick's lead actor and producer Tom Cruise "pushed every single aspect" of the upcoming sequel in order to honor the 1986 original, according to Manny Jacinto.
Speaking to TechRadar during the press tour for Amazon Prime's Nine Perfect Strangers miniseries, Jacinto – who will play a supporting character called Fritz – revealed how Cruise had gone all out to ensure that the Joseph Kosinki-directed flick delivers for its devoted fanbase.
Top Gun fans have had a three-decade wait for a follow-up to the iconic airborne action-drama movie and, with Maverick not due to arrive in theaters until later this year after numerous pandemic-related delays, viewers have been made to hang around for longer than anticipated.
- These are the best movies to watch on Netflix right now
- Or maybe check out the best Amazon Prime movies instead
- Here's our spoiler-free review of Marvel's What If...?, the studio's latest Disney Plus TV show
Jacinto, though, claims that the elongated wait will be worth it and promises that fans will be in for an "action packed ride" soon enough.
"It's something that you need to see in theatres," Jacinto tells us. "It's been 35 years since the last one and I really feel that the devoted Top Gun fans won't be disappointed with what Tom and the rest of the team has put out.
"Tom has pushed every single aspect of this film in regards to the flights, stunts and storylines. It's an action-packed ride and stands for everything that made the original movie such a big success way back then."
Analysis: will Maverick recapture the magic of the 1986 original?
We hope so – and Paramount Pictures will, too. Released in May 1986, Top Gun raked in $357.1 million at the global box office on a $15 million budget – numbers that made it the highest-grossing movie of the year.
While it's unlikely that Top Gun: Maverick will post a similar profit margin when it eventually lands this year (the movie was produced on a $152 million budget), it should – pandemic permitting – cover its outgoings and ensure that Paramount enjoys a decent pay day. The film will also come to Paramount Plus, the studio's streaming service, 45 days after its theatrical run, so it may receive a viewership boost when it lands there, too.
From an audience perspective, Top Gun: Maverick appears to making all the right noises, and showcasing all the right things, to get its fanbase (and other interested viewers) onside.
The movie's two official trailers have amassed 52 million views on YouTube since their respective July and December 2019 releases, so the footage thus far seems to have persuaded Top Gun devotees and other film aficionados to check it out when it arrives.
Providing Top Gun: Maverick doesn't suffer an unprecedented sixth release date change, it will arrive in theaters on November 19, 2021. It's been a long wait for the sequel to launch but, finally, it seems that Top Gun: Maverick is ready to take to the skies.
