Exclusive: Tony Scott doesn't want a remake or reinvention for 'Top Gun 2'

Tom Cruise is Maverick in Tony Scott's first blockbuster, "Top Gun."

Credit: Paramount Pictures

It's been almost 25 years since Tony Scott had his first blockbuster with "Top Gun," but the prolific action director is finally returning to the skies.  Speaking to HitFix while promoting his new thriller "Unstoppable," Scott confirmed he's on board a sequel, tentatively titled "Top Gun 2," with producer Jerry Bruckheimer at Paramount Pictures.

It's still unclear whether Tom Cruise will return to reprise his iconic role as Maverick, but with the Cold War long over, Scott is ready to do his script on what happened to the heroic fighter pilots in the decades since.

"I'm not waiting for a script. I'm going to do my homework. I'm going down to I think it's Fallon, Nevada, down near New Mexico and it's a whole different world now," Scott says. "These computer geeks -- these kids play war games in a trailer in Fallon, Nevada and if we ever went to war or were in the Middle East or the Far East or wherever it is, these guys can actually fly drones.  They are unmanned aircraft.  They operate them and then they party all night."

Scott didn't generate the idea for a "Top Gun" sequel, but it sounds like a personal experience piqued his interest about making a film about the modern day Air Force.

He recalls, "It was funny, because I was on a plane actually coming back from Vegas, rock climbing in Red Rock, and the guy sitting next to me was all hung over. He must have been in his late 20's and he was one of these kids. He said, 'I partied all night.'  And I said, 'What do you do?'  'I work [with unmanned aircraft in] the Air Force.'  But they operate these drones like it's war games, but it's for real."

According to Scott, "Top Gun 2" will partially examine the end of the era of fighter pilots.  Scott notes, "These guys are still test pilots and they manned the drones when they were first running them."  But, where is Maverick now?  Scott wouldn't reveal that, but also confirmed this wouldn't be his next film, but possibly the one immediately after.  So, a "Top Gun" sequel is still a few years away.  

"This world fascinated me, because it's so different from what it was originally," Scott says. "But, I don't want to do a remake.  I don't want to do a reinvention.  I want to do a new movie."

Scott's next film, "Unstoppable" with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, opens nationwide on Nov. 11.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

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With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.