According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Connelly is feeling the need for speed as she enters talks to star in the lead female role in the upcoming sequel to the 1986 smash, Top Gun.
The role Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) is in talks to play is of a single mother who runs a bar near the Naval base. If she signs on, she will be joining Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) and Val Kilmer (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang), who are set to reprise their roles as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, as well as franchise newcomer Miles Teller (Bleed for This), who will be portraying the adult son of Anthony Edwards’ Goose.
Top Gun: Maverick is said to be set in a world of drone technology and fifth generation fighters along with exploring the end of the era of dogfighting.
Joseph Kosinski, who previously directed Cruise in Oblivion, will helm the sequel, with Peter Craig, Justin Marks and Eric Warren Singer penning the script. Although the title Top Gun: Maverick floated around briefly, the film is currently without an official title.
A follow-up to Tony Scott’s 1986 hit has been in the works for quite some time, with Tom Cruise interested in reprising his role as United States Naval Aviator Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer previously outlined that the film will deal with the rise of unmanned drones and pilots becoming a thing of the past.
The original Top Gun was directed by Tony Scott and also starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Tom Skerritt. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Take My Breath Away” performed by Berlin. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Top Gun: Maverick is set to begin production at the beginning of September in San Diego with a July 12, 2019 release date.
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