After all these years, the 55-year-old actor still feels the need for speed!
Maverick is officially back to work!
The long-awaited Top Gun sequel is officially in production, and leading man Tom Cruise announced the news with a post to Instagram that references one of the most famous lines from the original 1986 film.
"Feel the need," the post reads alongside a photo of Cruise's Top Gun character, Maverick, suited up and looking out at a plane in the distance.
Thirty-two years later, Cruise is at it again, simply captioning his Top Gun image: "#Day1."
Production company Skydance shared the same snap, but captioned their post: "? Maverick. #Day1 ✈️ @tomcruise."
The original Top Gun follows a cocky Maverick as he makes his way through an elite fighter pilot training where he befriends Goose, goes toe-to-toe with Iceman (Val Kilmer), and does his best to woo his instructor, Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis).
The sequel's apparent tagline is in reference to the iconic scene in the first movie when Maverick and Goose are heading out to fly a plane. "I feel the need," Maverick bellows. "The need for speed," the two friends shout in sync, capping it off with an epic high five.
Back in January 2016, Jerry Bruckheimer, the film's producer, shared a photo to Twitter, which got fans excited that a sequel was actually in the works.
"Just got back from a weekend in New Orleans to see my old friend @TomCruise and discuss a little Top Gun 2," the 74-year-old super producer tweeted.
“You don’t make Top Gun without Tom Cruise,” Bruckheimer told ET after sharing that photo.
The sequel became official in May of last year when the 55-year-old actor confirmed the speculation while on an Australia's Sunrise morning show. "It's true," he said. "You know what? I'm going to start filming it probably in the next year. It's happening. It is definitely happening."
ET's Denny Directo also spoke with Bruckheimer at the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales junket last year, where he played coy on whether the movie was in the works, but revealed the story would show "what happened to Maverick [over] the last 30 years."
"[Cruise and I] talked a little bit about Top Gun. He's excited, he'd love to do it, and Paramount, of course, would like to do it, he shared. "So once we get all the ducks in a row, hopefully we'll bring it to the screen."
"Listen, it's an iconic character that [Cruise] helped create," Bruckheimer added. "So I think we would like to see what happened to Maverick for the last 30 years."
Here's what Cruise had to say about a potential sequel last year:
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