--- title: Top Gun Sequel Will Feature Tom Cruise Versus Drones description: The coming sequel to the 1980s hit Top Gun will examine the clash between manned aircraft and unmanned drones, said the film's producer canonical: https://time.com/3939673/top-gun-2-tom-cruise-drones/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-29T12:31:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:37:25.219Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Top Gun 2' Will Pit Tom Cruise Against Drones og:description: Maverick will face off against unmanned airplanes og:url: https://time.com/3939673/top-gun-2-tom-cruise-drones/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt913add5f34b7a522/698858df196cf46023036e3d/top-gun.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Top Gun og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Top Gun 2' Will Pit Tom Cruise Against Drones twitter:description: Maverick will face off against unmanned airplanes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt913add5f34b7a522/698858df196cf46023036e3d/top-gun.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Top Gun_ Sequel Will Feature Tom Cruise Versus Drones by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 29, 2015 12:31 PM CUT  Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun,' 1986. Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun,' 1986.Paramount Pictures by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 29, 2015 12:31 PM CUT _Top Gun_‘s Maverick [will return](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/29/top-gun-sequel-to-feature-tom-cruise-versus-drones-storyline "undefined") — and this time, he’s going to be fighting drones. The sequel to the 1980s hit will examine the clash between manned and unmanned aircraft, the film’s producer told the _Guardian_, in an age when remotely operated flight increasingly becomes the mainstay of the U.S. Air Force. “When you look at the world of dogfighting, what’s interesting about it is that it’s not a world that exists to the same degree when the original movie came out,” Ellison said. “So really exploring the end of an era of dogfighting and fighter pilots, and what that culture is today, are all fun things that we’re gonna get to dive into in this movie.” David Ellison of production company Skydance confirmed that Tom Cruise will be featured in his role as star fighter pilot Maverick. Cruise said last year he was interested in the role. It’s almost enough to take your breath away. \[[_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/29/top-gun-sequel-to-feature-tom-cruise-versus-drones-storyline "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3939673/top-gun-2-tom-cruise-drones/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3939673/top-gun-2-tom-cruise-drones/"},"headline":"Top Gun Sequel Will Feature Tom Cruise Versus Drones","datePublished":"2015-06-29T12:31:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:37:25.219Z","description":"The movie will explore \"the end of an era of dogfighting,\" says producer David Ellison","url":"https://time.com/3939673/top-gun-2-tom-cruise-drones/","keywords":["movies","film","tom cruise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt913add5f34b7a522/698858df196cf46023036e3d/top-gun.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt913add5f34b7a522/698858df196cf46023036e3d/top-gun.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Top Gun","caption":"Top Gun","creditText":"Paramount Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3939673/top-gun-2-tom-cruise-drones/","name":"Top Gun Sequel Will Feature Tom Cruise Versus Drones"}}]}] ```