When Top Gun: Maverick was announced three decades after the original 1980s classic, fans were hesitant about it upholding the integrity of the franchise. However, the highly anticipated 2022 sequel smashed box office records and left audiences demanding a second sequel. For a year, there have been rumors floating around about pre-production, and Miles Teller is here to give the people a light Top Gun 3 update.
The Whiplash actor recently appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to promote his new Apple TV movie The Gorge. However, the late night host wasted no time switching the conversation to Top Gun, asking the Bleed For This actor point blank if a third movie was happening. Teller replied with a hilariously candid answer, saying
Look, you might be shocked, but I do not greenlight that thing. I have nothing to do with it. I just told Tom, I said, ‘Give me enough time heads up for me to get in shape. It’s one month per ab, I need 6 months heads up.’
If there’s one thing I love about Miles Teller, it’s that he never takes himself too seriously. He’s clearly comfortable joking about his physique, but in some ways, he’s not kidding. The Spiderhead actor got seriously ripped for Top Gun: Maverick, and his six pack ended up going viral online thanks to a specific scene of him dancing shirtless to One Republic’s “I Ain’t Worried.”
Honestly, that timeline is so fair, as that kind of fitness doesn’t just happen overnight. For the beach scene in the Top Gun sequel, the actors worked their bums off to get in peak physical condition. Although based on the trailer for Teller’s new movie The Gorge, which premieres next week on the 2025 Movie Schedule, he’s already got a head start.
Unfortunately, these comments do reveal that production on a threequel is still a distant thought. As of June 2024, Top Gun: Maverick producer Jerry Bruckheimer said Top Gun 3 was in the works but still had no script. Though Teller seemed to confirm the hope of it happening when asked by Colbert, saying:
Yeah exactly. I don’t know, there’s a lot of enthusiasm on the fans’ side, there’s a lot of enthusiasm on, you know, the creative side.
Who has final say? Well, according to most of his Top Gun: Maverick co-stars, Tom Cruise does. The only problem is the Jerry Maguire star is a busy man and also a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to his films, with Teller saying he doesn’t think there’s anyone as involved in the process of making movies as Cruise.
Greg Tarzan Davis, who plays Coyote in the hit naval action sequel, was recently on set with Cruise for the upcoming Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning and casually asked the Jack Reacher actor about a Top Gun 3 update. Davis revealed that for Cruise to make another Top Gun, the story has to be right. Otherwise, we can kiss a threequel goodbye.
Thankfully, Cruise seems to like the direction they’re going in so far, so hopefully we can expect some movement on production soon. Based on comments from Glen Powell and Lewis Pullman, it looks like they would be down to sign on alongside Miles Teller.
The cast is so close with each other, with Tom Cruise even showing up to both the Twister and A Complete Unknown premieres to support Top Gun: Maverick costars. I’d like to think he’d have no trouble convincing them all to do another movie. I just hope we don’t have to wait an extra two years for a release this time!
You can check out Miles Teller and his six month abs in Top Gun: Maverick, available now to stream with a Paramount Plus subscription.