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Tom Cruise is heading back to the racetrack. A sequel to Days of Thunder — his 1990 NASCAR drama — is officially moving forward at Paramount, with Cruise returning as driver Cole Trickle.
Jonathan Levine is in talks to direct. He’s the filmmaker behind 50/50, Warm Bodies, The Night Before, Snatched, and Longshot — a resume that leans more comedy than high-octane action. So far, Cruise is the only name attached to the cast.
Levine’s also got another project on the way: Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story, starring David Corenswet. That one’s landing on Christmas Day this year, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it scored a rare perfect rating during test screenings this past spring.
Bruckheimer’s Back Too
Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the original Days of Thunder, is returning to produce the sequel as well. That’s not exactly a shock — Bruckheimer’s fingerprints are all over Cruise’s biggest hits, including the Top Gun franchise.
THR framed Levine’s hiring as a sign of studio confidence, noting his deal is still being finalized.
“Paramount’s tapping of Levine, whose deal is in the midst of negotiations, is a strong vote of confidence in Mr. Irrelevant, its upcoming sports drama that Levine helmed… hitting stratospheric highs during test screenings earlier this spring.”
As for the story itself, details are being kept quiet.
“Details for the new story are being kept under the hood but the script is written by Will Staples, who has written video games such as Call of Duty 3: Modern Warfare, and co-wrote the Michael B. Jordan action movie Without Remorse.”
Staples’ background is an interesting mix — video game writing and action-thriller scripts don’t always overlap with NASCAR drama, but it’s a combination that could work.
Behind-the-Scenes Stories From the Original
Ric Roman Waugh — who’s since directed films like Shot Caller, Angel Has Fallen, and Greenland — actually worked as a stuntman on the original Days of Thunder. Earlier this year, he shared some memories with BroBible about working alongside Cruise before Cruise became known for doing his own dangerous stunts.
“I was driving for the Cary Elwes character, and Tom would drive a lot of the time too,” Waugh said.
He remembers director Tony Scott keeping a close eye on them during filming.
“I remember [director] Tony Scott watching us. We’d go out onto the racetrack, and when we were on the other side — and people forget, if you’re going 200 miles an hour, that side of the track is a mile away — I’d start bumping Tom’s car from behind. He’d be laughing and we’d have fun down the back straight, then we’d come around and do the scene.”
Somebody eventually caught on.
“And somebody must’ve told on us, because when we came into the pits, Tony came over and goes, ‘Are you hitting his car on the other side there?’ I go, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ And Tom went like this, like, ‘I’m not saying anything either.’”
Could Cole Trickle Cross Paths With F1’s Sonny Hayes?
There’s already talk of connecting this world to another racing franchise. Joseph Kosinski — who directed both Top Gun: Maverick and this year’s F1 — told GQ last year he’d love to see Cruise’s Cole Trickle interact with Brad Pitt’s character Sonny Hayes from F1.
“Well, right now, it’d be Cole Trickle, who was [Cruise’s] Days of Thunder character, we find out that he and [Brad Pitt’s] Sonny Hayes have a past,” Kosinski said. “They were rivals at some point, maybe crossed paths… I heard about this epic go-kart battle on Interview With a Vampire that Brad and Tom had, and who wouldn’t pay to see those two go head-to-head on the track?”
Whether that crossover ever becomes reality is anyone’s guess — but the idea alone says something about how much overlap there is between Cruise’s and Pitt’s racing-movie fanbases right now.
The original Days of Thunder also starred Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Michael Rooker, Nicole Kidman, and Cary Elwes. It was directed by Tony Scott — brother of Ridley Scott — whose other credits include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable.
